Mythology and History: Legend has it that Crete is the birth place of Zeus, father of the gods. Zeus’ mother, Rea, came in Crete with the help of Gaia and Uranus because she was afraid of Cronos, Zeus’ father, who used to swallow his children so that they wouldn’t uzurp his power. Zeus was born in a cave, called the ”Idaian Cave” and was raised by Nimphs. After a great fight with Cronos, Zeus became father of all gods.
One day Zeus, assuming the form of a bull, abducted Europa from Phoenicia and brought her to Crete. From their union three sons were born: Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpidon. Minos, the most famous of Zeus’ three sons became king of Crete and ruled from his palace in Knossos. Minos' brother, Rhadamanthys, helped him administer his kingdom, while Sarpidon, founded his own kingdom in Lycia.

The god of seas, Poseidon, assured Minos that he would always be the king of the throne on condition that he would sacrifice a white bull sent by the god. Instead of sacrificing the white bull sent by Poseidon, Minos decided to sacrifice another bull. The god of seas wanted to punish Minos and had his wife fall in love with a bull. From their unnatural union was born the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and a human body. Minos, after consulting the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth for the Minotaur. They fed the Minotaur with 7 young women and 7 young men sent each year from Athens, as a tribute for the murder of Androge, one of Minos' children, by the Athenians ... more

 

Geography: Crete is the largest island of Greece, with an area of 8336 square kilometers and a coastline measuring 1040 kilometers. The island is 225 kilometers long and 60 kilometers wide and is the second largest island (after Cyprus) in the East Mediterranean.
Crete is surrounded by the Sea of Crete (to the north), Libyan Sea (to the south), Myrtoan Sea (to the west) and Karpathion Sea (to the east). The island lies 160 kilometers south of the Greek mainland and is one of the 13 regions into which Greek is divided.

The island of Crete is mountainous, about two thirds of the whole area of the island being covered with mountains. The highest mountains are Lefka Ori (2452 m), the Idi range (mount Psiloritis - 2456 m), the Dikti mountains (2148 m), Kedros (1777 m), Thripti (1489 m). There are a number of rivers in Crete including Ieropotamos River in the southern part of the island ... more