Crete
- For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation).
Crete, sometimes spelled Krete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the Greek island closest to North Africa.
It has an area of 8,300 square kilometres, a coastline of 1,040 kilometres, and a population of over 500,000. It consists of four prefectures: Chania, Rethimno, Heraklion and Lasithi. It has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, military airport Daskalogiannis at Chania and the new Public Airport (will open not before mid 2005) in Sitia. Among its principal cities are Heraklion (Iraklion), Chania, Rethimno, Ierapetra, Agios Nikolaos, Sitia.
Tourist attractions in Crete include archeological sites at Knossos, Phaistos, Gortys and many other places, the Venetian castle in Rethimno, the Samaria Gorge and many other minor gorges (Agia Irini, Aradena, etc).
Crete was the location of Minoan civilization (3000-1400 BC) one of the first civilizations in Europe.
See also
- Geography of Crete
- History of Crete
- Philodorian
External links
- Mountaineering and Trekking in Crete (http://www.climbincrete.com/index.php)
- East Crete (http://www.eastcrete.com/index_e.html)
- West Crete (http://www.west-crete.com/)
- Guide to Crete for Visitors (http://www.cretetravel.com/)
cs:Kréta da:Kreta de:Kreta el:Κρήτη es:Creta et:Kreeta fi:Kreeta fr:Crète he:כרתים it:Creta ja:クレタ島 la:Creta nl:Kreta no:Kreta pl:Kreta pt:Creta ro:Creta sl:Kreta sv:Kreta zh:克里特岛
Categories: Crete | Islands of Greece