The Venetian City of Candia (Heraklion) in 1669 - the star-shaped Walls were built 1530 - 1570
Plotting the route for summer sailing is fun. Equipped with the respective edition of Waters Pilot, a few charts and a tape measure, I look for interesting places to stay – if possible at intervals of 30 miles or five hours of sailing. Very helpful is always Google Earth. The satellite photos are so granular that I always find something interesting. Last Christmas, when laying the course for our second week along Crete’s northern shores, I noticed something amazing: Crete is a paradise for star-shaped cities.
My Tools for Plotting the Course for our Summer Sailing
Found so many star-shaped places along our route - Heraklion, Chania, Rethymnon, Spinalonga, Palaiokastro, Souda and Gamvrousa. Zooming in on the satellite pictures was fascinating. Some of these places are well preserved, others levelled to the ground. Many of them have become tourist attractions and are visited by thousands. These cities and fortresses are the remnants of 400 years of Venetian rule and housed their civil and military administration. But why are they star-shaped with big bastions?
Star-Shaped Venetian Candia (Heraklion) 1667- 1669 - the Ottomans attacked from the West
To answer the question we need to look into history and go back to our visits to Rhodes in 2017 and Malta in 2021. In 1517, the Ottoman rulers in Istanbul landed their biggest coup ever – they defeated the Mamluks from Cairo and gained Syria, Egypt and the Hejaz as new provinces. More importantly, they won control over the lucrative India trade via the Persian Gulf -> Syria and the Red Sea –> Egypt. The trade generated tax revenues way beyond the Sultans' wildest dreams. The age of the Ottoman Empire started. It also gave the Sultans access to cheap wheat from Egypt and made them the protectors of Islam. The Mamluks had controlled Medina and Mekka. Now they were Ottoman towns. As expected, maritime commerce and pilgrimages on Eastern Med routes took off.
The Taxes from the Indian Trade financed the Building of a strong Ottoman Navy
Until 1517, the saftey of their sea lanes to the Middle East was a low Ottoman priority. Their navy was mostly used for supporting Turkish land forces. The conquests of 1517 changed everything. Now, the Knights of Saint John and their galleys operating from Rhodes became a threat. Their presence astride Turkish lines of communications was no longer tolerable. The same was true for the Venetians in Cyprus and Crete. In 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent personally led a campaign to Rhodes to evict the Knights. After heavy losses and several months of siege, he succeeded. Next was Malta, the Knight’s new seat. But the siege in 1556 broke on Malta’s modern, star-shaped walls. The town of Famagusta in Cyprus was less lucky in 1570. Its modern walls allowed it to repel the Ottomans for a year. But then the Venetians run out of food and ammunition. The garrison surrendered. A year later, the Ottoman fleet was destroyed at the epic battle of Lepanto. But it was too late to safe Famagusta.
Chania's Town Walls were expanded and modernised in 1612
The Venetians followed these development carefully and systematically upgraded their defenses in Crete. All major towns and fortresses got starshaped walls with large basitions which had proven so able in repulsing Ottoman attacks. But whilst Venice could pay for the walls and force local people to work without "as volunteers"pay on these impressive defenses, they did not have the funds to garrison the reinforced places properly.
Rethymnon's Venetian Walls with strong Bastions were built from 1540 - 1570
When the Ottomans finally invaded in 1645, the Venetians lacked boots on the ground. The major European powers were involved in the costly 30-Years War (1618 – 1648) and could not provide help. Chania fell after a siege of only 65 days, Rethymnon lasted a year. By 1646, most of Crete was occupied. Only Heraklion, the fortresses of Palaiokastro, Spinalonga, Sounda and Gamvousa held out and fought for another 23 years. They proved the value of these innovative, star-shaped defenses with strong bastions and overlapping fields of fire.
The Venetian Souda Fort, built in 1573, never surrendered. It became Turkish in 1715.
The success of these defenses impressed the young Marquis de Vauban (1633 – 1707) so much that he surrounded France with a ring of similar fortresses. We can still visit most of them. Or – if you do not have the time – go and see the fortress models in the Musée de l’Armée in the Dômes des Invalides in Paris (5th floor). Crete wrote history – albeit in faraway Europe. The Venetians proved that a modern fortress can significantly delay an enemy and gain time to call for reinforcements. Still, a field army was necessary to defeat enemy troops. For 24 years, the Venetian fleet fought a gallant war against the Ottomans but could neither completely interrupt Turkish supplies nor bring a sufficiently large relieve force to Crete to expel the Sultan's soldiers. It lead for 20 years to a war of attrition on the island.
Dunkirk (BE) is one of the Forts Vauban built in 1686 - 17 Years after Candia surrendered
Eventually, Venice had to surrender Candia (Heraklion) in 1669. It lacked the ressources to keep on fighting. By mid-1650, circumstances beyond Venice's control had fundamentally changed its business model. First Portuguese, then Dutch ships, diverted the lucrative India trade via the Cape of Good Hope. The valuable Indian spices & cotton, Chinese teas & silks, sugars & jewels now arrived in Lisbon, Amsterdam & London. Alexandria and Venice were replaceed as trading centers. Without taxes from the Indian trade, Venice's revenues were reduced to income from its colonies & territories. Not enough to wage war against Europe’s strongest empire.
The fortress of Spinalonga near Agios Nikolaios also never surrendered to the Ottomans
For the Ottomans, the possession of the Crete was vital in order to reduce their naval expenditure. They did not need a 300-vessel navy once Venice was confined to the Adria. The Turkish victory in 1669 thus represents the peak of the Ottoman power. Until the British arrived in the Mediterranean nobody could challenge them.
The Venetian Palaiokastro Fort (west of Candia) was taken in the mid 1660 after a years-long siege and levelled. Finally, Ottoman troops could disembark near Candia (Heraklion)
If you are interested in a nice video clip on the walls of Candia (Heraklion), click here
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