Heraklion, also known as Iraklion and formerly known as Chandax and Kandiye, is the largest city and administrative capital of the Greek island of Crete. It served as the port of the Minoan city of Knossos, which was destroyed by the eruption of Thera in 1500 BC. Heraklion fared poorly following the demise of the Minoans, and it remained a small port until the Roman era, when development resumed. The present city was founded in 824 AD by the Arabs of the Emirate of Crete, who built a moat around the city, used the port as a safe haven for pirates who raided Byzantine possessions and shipping around the Aegean Sea, and moved the capital of Crete from Gortyn to Heraklion (Rabd al-Handaq, hellenized as "Chandax"). In March 961, the city fell to the Byzantines after a prolonged siege, and the Saracens were slaughtered, the city looted and burned to the ground, and rebuilt as a Byzantine town. In 1204, following the Fourth Crusade, Crete was bought by the Republic of Venice, which built enormous fortifications around the city. In 1212, families from Venice began to settle in the city, and it shared in Italy's Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries. From 1648 to 1669, in the longest siege (at 21 years) in history, the city fell to the Ottoman Turks at a cost of 70,000 Turks, 38,000 Cretans, and 29,088 Christian defenders. Renamed "Kandiye", it was the capital of Ottoman Crete until 1849, when the capital was moved to Chania after Heraklion's harbor silted. In 1898, the autonomous "Cretan State" was created, and Crete was annexed to the Kingdom of Greece in 1913. In 1971, it returned to being the capital of Crete. In 2011, Heraklion had 173,993 residents.
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