It is also home to the ancient Knossos Palace, a major center of the Minoan civilization dating back to approximately 2000-1350 BCE, often considered Europe's oldest city.

Heraklion was Europe's fastest growing tourism destination for 2017, according to Euromonitor, with an 11.2% growth in international arrivals.

Although ecclesiastical records do not list it as a bishopric, a bishop named Theodoros of Heracleopolis is mentioned at the Second Council of Nicaea.

Over time, as Knossos declined, the port area grew in significance, eventually becoming a prominent urban center.

Rabḍ al-ḫandaq (ربض الخندق): In 824 CE, Arab exiles from al-Andalus (Iberia) who conquered Crete and founded the Emirate of Crete moved the island's capital from Gortyna to a new castle they called rabḍ al-ḫandaq ("Castle of the Moat").

In Minoan times, Knossos was the largest centre of population on Crete and is considered by many to be the oldest city in Europe.

[20] Knossos itself had a port at the site of Heraklion (in the modern area of Poros-Katsambas[21] neighborhood) from the beginning of the Early Minoan period (3500 to 2100 BC).

After the fall of the Minoans, Heraklion, as well as the rest of Crete in general, fared poorly, with very little development in the area.

[22] Heraklion was chosen as capital in 824, with fortifications starting being built the following year, by the Arabs under Abu Hafs Umar who had been expelled from Al-Andalus by Emir Al-Hakam I and had taken over the island from the Eastern Roman Empire.

[citation needed] In 960, Byzantine forces under the command of Nikephoros Phokas, later to become Emperor, landed in Crete and attacked the city.

In its final phase, which lasted for 22 months, 70,000 Turks, 38,000 Cretans and slaves and 29,088 of the city's Christian defenders perished.

[23] The Ottoman army under an Albanian grand vizier, Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha conquered the city in 1669.

[25] In 1898, the autonomous Cretan State was created, under Ottoman suzerainty, with Prince George of Greece as its High Commissioner and under international supervision.

During the period of direct occupation of the island by the Great Powers (1898–1908), Candia was part of the British zone.

[27] Other monuments of architecture from Venetian times include the Saint Mark's Basilica and the Renaissance loggia next to Lions Square (1626–28).

Around the historic city center of Heraklion there are also a series of defensive walls, bastions and other fortifications which were built earlier in the Middle Ages, but were completely rebuilt by the Republic of Venice.

The fortifications managed to withstand the longest siege in history for 21 years, before the city fell to the Ottomans in 1669.

Travellers can take ferries and boats from Heraklion to destinations including Santorini, Ios Island, Paros, Mykonos, and Rhodes.

Because Heraklion is further south than Athens, it has a warmer climate during winter but cooler during summer because of the Aegean Sea.

[37] NOAA(precipitation days - dew point 1961-1990)[43] The Cultural and Conference Center of Heraklion is a centre for the performing arts.

Heraklion has been the home town of some of Greece's most significant people, including the novelist Nikos Kazantzakis (best known for Zorba the Greek), the poet and Nobel Prize winner Odysseas Elytis and the world-famous painter Domenicos Theotokopoulos (El Greco).