Heraklion (Greek: Ηράκλειο, Irakleio) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete. It is the fourth largest city in Greece.


Heraklion is the capital of Heraklion regional unit.


The Arab raiders from Andalusia (Iberia) who founded the Emirate of Crete moved the island's capital from Gortyna to a new castle they called ??? ?????? rab? al-?andaq 'Castle of the Moat' in the 820s. This was hellenized as Χάνδαξ (Khandax) or Χάνδακας (Khandakas) and Latinized as Candia, which was taken into other European languages: in Italian and Latin as Candia, in French as Candie, in English as Candy, all of which could refer to the island of Crete as a whole as well as to the city alone; the Ottoman name was Kandiye.

After the Byzantine reconquest, the city was locally known as Megalo Kastro (Μεγάλο Κάστρο,[citation needed] 'Big Castle' in Greek) or Castro and its inhabitants were called Kastrinoi or Castrini ('castle-dwellers' in Greek).
