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The most appropriate place to start exploring Irakleio’s Venetian heritage is this ornate archway through the city’s mighty walls, built in the mid-16th century by the Italian military engineer Michele Sanmichele. At this point, the walls are some 40 m (130 ft) thick, so it is not surprising that they withstood 16th-century Ottoman artillery and everything else thrown at them.

Walk through the portal and along Evans, named after the excavator of ancient Knosos, to Plateia Kornarou, named after the writer of the Cretan epic poem the Erotokritos . In the middle of this square stands a pretty, six-sided stone building, a café set within a pumphouse built by the Turks. Stop here, if you like, for a coffee in the shade of plane trees. Beside the café is the Venetian Bembo Fountain – note the broken, decapitated marble torso of a Roman statue built into its stonework.

Leave Plateia Kornarou north of the fountain, along the market street Odos 1866, among stalls selling fresh fruit, olives, dried fruit and nuts, and less familiar produce such as buckets of live snails. Midway along 1866, turn left and walk along to Plateia Ekaterinis, where the main landmark is the pompous 19thcentury cathedral.

At the foot of the square, and more interesting than the cathedral, is this church which in the 16th century was one of the great schools of Cretan icon painting. Today it houses the world’s best collection of Cretan icons.

Leave Plateia Ekaterinis by its northwest corner, and walk east to Plateia Nikoforou Foka, then left to Plateia Venizelou. The Morosini fountain stands in the middle of the square, with two stone lions standing sentinel.

On the southeast side of the square, the former Venetian Cathedral of San Marco, dedicated to Venice’s patron saint, became a mosque and is now an exhibition centre and conference hall. Leave the square by 25 Augoustou and walk past the Loggia. If this Venetian town hall looks suspiciously modern, blame restoration after earthquake and bomb damage.

Turn right immediately after the Loggia to find Agios Titos (St Titus). Originally Byzantine, the church was rebuilt by the Venetians, turned into a mosque by the Turks and reclaimed by the Orthodox church in 1925. Inside, a reliquary contains the skull of St Titus.

Returning to 25 Augoustou, turn left onto Theotokopoulou, then left onto Gazi, which leads to the Historical Museum of Crete. The basement contains some interesting Venetian stonework, Turkish and Byzantine remnants and the only El Greco painting left in Crete.

Built in 1523–40 to guard the harbour approaches, the massive Rocca al Mare, as it was known to the Venetians, served its purpose well. Piles of cannonballs in the inner chambers seem to await another assault.

On your way back from the fortress, you will see a series of high stone vaults built into the wall behind the harbour. These were the Arsenali or shipyards where the great galleys were built that gave Venice its control of the sea.