Fraskia Bay, also transliterated as Fraschia ( el, όρμος Φρασκιών, Φρασκιά), is a small bay on the north coast of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is located 10 km northwest of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

near the villages of Rodia and Palaiokastro. Fraskia bay got its name from the word ''Fraski'' ( el, Φρασκί), which is a type of baked clay beehive; the hills next to the shore are abundant in thyme and hence well-suited to

apiculture Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...

. The fortress of Palaiokastro was built in the sixteenth century to protect both the bay of Fraskia and the bay of Heraklion from enemy ships. Before the construction of the modern port of Heraklion in the 1920s, and especially during Venetian times, Fraskia bay was important for maritime trade. This was because its deep waters and natural protection against the prevailing northerly winds provided a safe

anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. Furthermore, Fraskia bay functioned as an

outport An outport is any port considered secondary to a main port (including a provincial one as opposed to a capital one), and often (especially) a small port built to support the commercial operations of a large port. The Port of Tilbury from the Port ...

for the port of

as the shallow waters of the latter often forced vessels to take on only part of their cargo from Heraklion and the rest from Fraskia.

References

External links

''Ponta della Fraschia''
map by

Marco Boschini Marco Boschini (1602–1681) was an Italian painter and engraver of the early Baroque period in Venice. He was born in Venice, and was educated in the school of Palma il Giovane. He painted ''The Last Supper'' for the sacristy of at Venice. He ...

Kingdom of Candia History of Crete Stato da Màr Landforms_of_Heraklion_(regional_unit) Bays of Greece Gulfs of the Aegean Sea {{Crete-geo-stub

See also

References

External links