Discover Crete : Architecture (and design)

From Minos to Byzantium

It all begins with the legendary Minoan civilization, which, between myth and reality, fascinates with its splendor, hospitality and pacifism. There are no fortifications here, but entire palaces devoted to the good life. Those that have come down to us date back to the period known as the Second Palaces (1700-1350 B.C.) and bear witness to an unparalleled splendour. Minoan palaces have many common characteristics: a large rectangular central courtyard towards which corridors and staircases converge, interior walls covered with lime plaster and often decorated with frescoes made from natural pigments, floors covered with gypsum plaster, small rooms lit by large windows or skylights and distributed by function (religious, administrative, sanitary...) and, above all, astonishing terracotta piping systems for the supply and disposal of water, supplying bathrooms with bathtubs and sometimes even toilets. The height of refinement! Knossos is the most impressive of the Minoan palaces with 1,300 rooms, 5 floors and an impressive propylaeum (monumental entrance supported by 4 pillars) covering 22,000^m2. Admittedly, its "restoration" by the archaeologist Arthur John Evans has somewhat distorted it with its concrete pillars and copies of frescoes, but no matter, you can only be impressed by this giant. Other must-see palaces: Phaistos with its main entrance located at the top of a monumental staircase and its 8-seat theatre, Malia less ostentatious but just as impressive (especially its offering table pierced with 34 small cavities) and Kato Zakros the smallest... but which still has 300 rooms, as well as an astonishing cast metal workshop equipped with air supply ducts! The Minoans also built entire cities, as shown by the site of Gournia with its maze of paved streets zigzagging between houses divided into residential areas. The presence of towns around the palaces suggests that Minoan society was structured in small centralized monarchies living in perfect harmony.

A harmony that was undermined by the arrival of the Mycenaeans and then the Dorians, who favored a massive and defensive architecture. At the heart of the site of Phaistos, it is still possible to see the remains of a Mycenaean village, including a portico, a sanctuary and a megaron (a large rectangular room with a central fixed hearth preceded by a vestibule). If history has proved that Greco-Roman Antiquity was a prosperous period in Crete with the creation of new cities (the Greeks preferred to settle on sites that were more secure inland), ports and roads, it is clear that the archaeological sites of the period are relatively modest. The site of Driros is the most representative of the classical Greek period with its two acropolis and its agora. As for Gortyne

, it is undoubtedly the city that bears the most traces of the Roman presence with its theatre, forum and nymphaeum. The Byzantines, for their part, left their mark mainly in religious matters. In general, Byzantine buildings are characterised by a basilical plan called centred or a Greek cross plan - with a recurrence in Crete of the single-nave plan with external buttresses -, domes on pendentives, an often sober and austere exterior and a richly decorated interior (frescoes, mosaics) and a choir from which apses stand out. Byzantine masterpieces include the early Byzantine Church of St. Nicholas Ormos, the 7th centuryAgios Titos Church in Gortyn, the amazing Agios Fanourios Church in Kitharida with its multiple domes and powerful stone apparatus, and the Agios Nikolaos Church with its impressive dome. Alongside the churches, the Byzantines also built monasteries, including the monastery of Katholiko, located not far from the church carved into the rock of a cave that sheltered the hermit John, founder of the monastery.

From Serenissima to Ottoman power

Of all the occupants of Crete, it is undoubtedly the Venetians who left the most visible imprint on it. Leading the island with an iron hand, the Doges of the Serenissima controlled all aspects of the island, with architecture and town planning in the forefront, as the city had to be both functional and impressive. Aware of its strategic position, the Venetians first fortified the island. Do not miss the fortress of Frangokastello with its 4 powerful corner towers or the castle of Gramvoussa with its bastioned ramparts. Geniuses of the seas, the Venetians also endowed the port cities with powerful arsenals recognizable by their alignment of long and high vaulted rooms overhung with triangular pediments. The Chania complex with its seven huge vaults and its pier ending with a lighthouse has lost none of its majesty. The Venetians' relationship with water can also be seen in the engineering treasures developed in the field of water conveyance. In particular, they built a giant aqueduct to bring water to the centre of Heraklion and to operate the two superb fountains Bembo and Morosini, the latter supported by powerful stone lions, symbol of the Serenissima. These fountains are in the centre of squares, a major element of Venetian town planning, surrounded by administrative buildings. The loggia, a building open to the outside through arcades or colonnades welcoming the elite, is its most beautiful representative, as evidenced by the loggias of Chania and Heraklion with their richly decorated facades. Another key Venetian building is the duomo or main church, of which the Basilica of St Mark of Heraklion is the great representative with its three-nave plan and powerful portico. Campaniles or bell towers of individual churches have also been added to many existing religious buildings. The Venetians also put their mark on the monasteries, notably creating entrances to the Gothic and then Renaissance vocabulary on Byzantine buildings. This is particularly the case in the monasteries of Arkadi and Agia Triada Tsagarolon. Finally, the Venetian presence can be seen in the houses, whether urban or rural. The narrow streets of Rethymnon are full of stone houses with imposing sculpted portals surmounted by pediments and leading to vaulted passageways, which in turn lead to the stairs leading to the piano nobile or noble floor with decorated balconies and windows. In the countryside, the Venetians first inhabited powerful towers and then fortified houses that were always austere in appearance, but now pierced by openings and windows before relative peace allowed them to have superb villas built, such as the Villa Clodio in Chromonastiri. TheOttoman power wanted to erase this splendour very quickly, almost systematically transforming churches into mosques, as in Chania where the bell tower of the church of Saint Nicholas was demolished and replaced by a high minaret punctuated by two balconies, or as with the church of SaintTitus which became the Vizier Mosque. The Ottomans also capitalized on the existing fortifications and endowed the towns with large barracks, such as those of Heraklion, which today houses the prefecture and the courthouse. But the most striking Ottoman imprint is to be seen on the facades of the houses. Many of them proudly display a sahnisi, or corbelled covered wooden balcony added to the first floor of Venetian houses... or the art of seeing without being seen.

Cretan identity and contemporary perspectives

The Cretan identity is fully expressed in the traditional rural habitat. Simple, cubic in shape, made of wood, stone and earth, these houses originally have few openings and are organized around a single room with a floor paved with large stones. Their flat roofs are made of several layers of criss-crossing wooden beams, reeds and clay, with a slope in the structure to collect rainwater. Then gradually their architecture evolves, the system of wooden planks and crossbeams is replaced by a semi-circular arch, then two, allowing the house to gain one floor. Their decoration also evolves. The whitewashed walls are adorned with bright colours, while some roofs are covered with tiles. The very colourful hamlet of Aspros Potamos with its houses that seem to fit into each other is a good example of this Cretan identity. Other prominent rural constructions are the mitata or summer huts in the mountainous regions, built of dry stone blocks in a cylindrical plan topped by a conical roof with a vaulted interior supported by corbelled slabs and slightly sloping outwards. The small heritage of wells and cisterns is also inseparable from Crete, as is that of the mills. In the west, where rainfall is frequent, you can see water mills, while in the windier east, the landscape is covered with windmills, as in Ambellos on the Lassithi plateau. In the arid plains, light metal windmills have also been built to pump water from wells and irrigate crops. Today, these engineering treasures stand alongside powerful wind turbines.

Although Crete has not been able to escape the concreting of part of its coastline to meet tourist demand, it has nonetheless been able to develop a contemporary architecture that skilfully oscillates between preserving and restoring the heritage of the past, modernising the traditions inherited from the Venetians and Ottomans and creating designs with sober, pure lines. Minimalism, harmony with nature, and the use of noble materials preside over the construction of these new Cretan homes. Among the most beautiful examples are the family residence designed by the Tense Architecture Network agency in Heraklion, which was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe 2017 prize for its fluid volumes designed to follow the sunlight, and the Ring House in Agia Galini imagined as a true sanctuary - indeed, the excavated materials were used to reshape the garden, while local plants were planted to hide the scars of the work - and as a light refuge wrapped around a central courtyard, or the Villa San Matteo at the top of Cape Koutoula with its geometric lines softened by the natural hues of its raw materials. Contemporary Cretan architecture, or the art of transforming an arid and rugged landscape into an infinite source of inspiration!