Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. It is the capital of

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built on the site of the earlier city of

Rhithymna Rhithymna or Rithymna () or Rhithymnia (Ῥιθυμνία), was a town of ancient Crete, Greece, which is mentioned by Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder as the first town on the north coast to the east of Amphimalla, and is spoken of as a Cretan city by ...

History

Rethymno is believed to have been built on the site of the earlier city of

. Some sources mention a city called Arsinoe which some scholars have proposed stood at the same site. Rethymno began a period of growth when the Venetian conquerors of the island decided to establish an intermediate commercial station between

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

and

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

, acquiring its own

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and nobility in the process. Today's old town (''palia poli'') was almost entirely built by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. It is one of the best-preserved old towns in Crete. From circa 1250 the city was the seat of the Latin Diocese of Retimo, which was renamed Retimo–Ario after the absorption in 1551 of the Diocese of Ario. The town still maintains its old aristocratic appearance, with its buildings dating from the 16th century, arched doorways, stone staircases,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

remains, the small Venetian harbour and narrow streets. The Venetian

Loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

houses the information office of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. A Wine Festival is held there annually at the beginning of July. Another festival, in memory of the destruction of the Arkadi Monastery, is held on 7–8 November. The city's Venetian-era citadel, the Fortezza of Rethymno, is one of the best-preserved castles in Crete. Other monuments include the Neradje Mosque (the Municipal Odeon arts centre), the Great Gate ( or "Porta Guora"), the Piazza Rimondi and the Loggia. The town was captured by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1646 during the Cretan War (1645–69) and they ruled it for almost three centuries. The town, called ''Resmo'' in Turkish, was the centre of a ''

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

'' (administrative part of a province) during Ottoman rule. During the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

(20–30 May 1941), the Battle of Rethymno was fought between

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

paratroopers A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light inf ...

and combined forces of the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

and the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

. Although initially unsuccessful, eventually the Germans won the battle after receiving reinforcements airlifted to Maleme in the northwestern part of the island. Today the city's main source of income is tourism, with many new facilities having been built in the past 20 years. Agriculture is also notable, especially

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

and other Mediterranean products.

Municipality

The municipality of Rethymno was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units: * Arkadi * Lappa * Nikiforos Fokas *Rethymno ;Population of Rethymno

Culture

Rethymno is home to the following museums: * Archaeological Museum of Rethymno *Historical and Folklore Museum of Rethymno *Municipal Gallery "L. Kanakakis" *The Frantzeskaki Collection * Museum of Sea Life at Rethymno The

Treasure Hunt of Rethymno The treasure hunt in Rethymno is a game played by local people in Crete and takes place two weeks before Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten p ...

is a game played by local people and takes place two weeks before

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

Literature

Pandelis Prevelakis Pandelis Prevelakis (, sometimes transliterated Panteles Prevelakes; 18 February 1909 – 15 March 1986) was a Greek novelist, poet, dramatist and essayist—one of the leading Greek prose writers of the "Generation of the '30s". Most of his works ...

wrote ''Το χρονικό μιας πολιτείας'' (1937), ''The Chronicle of a Town'', a nostalgic depiction of Rethymno from the period of the

Cretan State The Cretan State (; ) was an autonomous state governing the island of Crete from 1898 to 1913, under ''de jure'' suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire but with ''de facto'' independence secured by European Great Powers. In 1897, the Cretan Revolt (18 ...

(1898) to the expulsion of the Cretan Turks (1924).

Sports

Rethymno hosted the international athletics meeting known as Vardinogianneia. The athletics meeting stopped in 2012 due to Greek financial crisis. Rethymno has many sport clubs with presence in Panhellenic championships of various sports. Below is alist of the main sport clubs of Rethymno.

Education

In the Rethymno Campus of the University of Crete are located the School of Philosophy, the School of Education, the School of

Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

Political Sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

, and the University Library of the

University of Crete The University of Crete (UoC; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution in Crete, Greece, located in the cities of Rethymno (official seat) and Heraklion. There are 16 main undergraduate ...

. On a yearly basis, there are about 8.000 students studying at "Galos" where the Campus and the Academic Institute of Mediterranean Studies are located. Also in Rethymnon is located the School of Music and Optoacoustic Technologies of th
Hellenic Mediterranean University
Finally, in Rethymno, Tria Monastiria area is located the international researc
Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser
ref> of the Hellenic Mediterranean University which is the access point of the National Research Facilit
HELLAS-CH
.

Geography

Climate

Notable locals

; Royalty and politics * Georgios Chortatzis (1545–1610), dramatist in Cretan verse * Ahmed Resmî Efendi (1700–1783), Ottoman statesman, author and ambassador *

Nikolaos Sifounakis Nikolaos Sifounakis () (born 21 December 1949 in Rethymno) is a Greece, Greek politician, former Minister for the Aegean and Island Policy (Greece), Minister for the Aegean and ex-member of the European Parliament (MEP). He was elected on the Panh ...

(born 1949), Greek politician * Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan (1642–1715), valide sultan *

Emmanouil Tsouderos Emmanouil Tsouderos (, also transliterated as ''Emmanuel Tsouderos''; 19 July 1882 – 10 February 1956) was a Greek politician and statesman who served as the internationally recognized Prime Minister of Greece from 1941 to 1944 as head of the ...

(1882-1956), former

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

; Other * Stylianos Harkianakis (1935 - 2019), Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Australia * Athanasius III of Constantinople, Patriarch *

(1909–1986), writer * Manolis Xexakis (born 1949), poet and writer * Nick Dandolos (1883–1966), professional poker player

International relations

Rethymno is twinned with : *

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( , ), officially Romanization, romanised Agia Napa, is a Tourism in Cyprus, tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian Cyprus, Venetian-era monaster ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

* Castenaso,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

* Pushkin,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Gallery

File:Rethymno venetian port and fort.jpg, Panorama of the city File:Fontaine Rimondi (Réthymnon).JPG, Rimondi Fountain File:Loggia Rethymnou.JPG, Venetian loggia File:Porte Guora à Réthymnon.JPG, Guora Gate (Megali Pyli), old city gate File:Οδός Βερνάδου 3080.JPG, View of the old town File:Rethymno Sultan Ibrahim 19.JPG, Sultan Ibrahim mosque File:L'église catholique de Réthymnon.JPG, The catholic church of Agios Antonios File:Eleftherios Venizelos in Rethymno.JPG,

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

statue

References

;Notes

External links

* * http://www.explorerrethymno.gr
Prefecture of Rethymno - Official websiteRethymno
The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation {{Authority control Populated places in Rethymno (regional unit) Rethymno (municipality) Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece Port cities of the Aegean Sea