Crete

Crete is the largest of the islands and is the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea - after , , , and . It is located between the Sea of Crete and the Libyan Sea, south of the .
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Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Heraklion and Chania.

or Iraklio is the major city and capital of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. Its archaeological museum holds the remains of the 4000-year-old Minoan civilization, which centred on the nearby palace of Knossos, with its Minotaur legend.

is a beautiful port town on the northwest coast of Crete, with an atmosphere reflecting its Venetian and Turkish past. Highly livable spot.

or Rethimno is a beautiful city on the island of Crete in . It has picturesque small lanes of shops selling mostly tourist goods and a newer area of town with normal shops.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Lasithi and Chania.

is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of . Its capital is , the other major towns being and .

, also spelled Hania, is one of the four regional units of Crete; it covers the westernmost quarter of the island. Its capital is the city of .

is a regional unit on the island Crete in .

is one of the four regional units of Crete, . Its capital is the city of . Today, its main income is tourism. The countryside is also based economically on agriculture and herding.

Crete

Latitude of center
35.1667° or 35° 10′ north
Longitude of center
25° east
Population
623,000
Elevation
629 metres (2,064 feet)
Geo­Names ID
258764
Wiki­data ID
Q34374
This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Crete from above in high-definition satellite imagery.

In Other Languages

From Afrikaans to Zeeuws—“Crete” goes by many names.
  • Afrikaans: Kreta
  • Albanian: Kreta
  • Albanian: Kretë
  • Amharic: ቀርጤስ
  • Amharic: ክሬታ
  • Ancient Greek (to 1453): Κρήτα
  • Ancient Greek (to 1453): Κρῆται
  • Ancient Greek (to 1453): Κρήτη
  • Arabic: أقريطش
  • Arabic: إقريطش
  • Arabic: جزيرة كريت
  • Arabic: كريت
  • Aragonese: Creta
  • Armenian: Կրետե
  • Asturian: Creta
  • Azerbaijani: Krit
  • Balinese: Kréta
  • Basque: Kreta
  • Batak Toba: Kreta
  • Belarusian: Востраў Крыт
  • Belarusian: Крыт
  • Bengali: ক্রিট
  • Bosnian: Kreta
  • Bosnian: Krit
  • Breton: Kreta
  • Breton: Kretat
  • Breton: Kretia
  • Bulgarian: Крит
  • Catalan: Creta
  • Catalan: Cretencs
  • Catalan: Illa de Creta
  • Cebuano: Crete
  • Central Kurdish: کریت
  • Chinese: Crete
  • Chinese: 克里特
  • Chinese: 克里特岛
  • Chinese: 克里特島
  • Chinese: 革哩底
  • Chuvash: Крит
  • Corsican: Creta
  • Croatian: Kreta
  • Czech: Kréta
  • Czech: Kriti
  • Danish: Kreta
  • Dimli (individual language): Girit
  • Dutch: Candia
  • Dutch: Creta
  • Dutch: Kirid
  • Dutch: Kreta
  • Dutch: Kretenzer
  • Eastern Mari: Крит
  • Egyptian Arabic: كريت
  • Esperanto: Insulo Kreto
  • Esperanto: Kreto
  • Estonian: Kreeta saar
  • Estonian: Kreeta
  • Faroese: Kreta
  • Finnish: Kreeta
  • French: Crète
  • French: île de Crète
  • French: Candie” (historical)
  • Galician: Creta
  • Galician: Illa de Creta
  • Georgian: კრეტა
  • German: Creta
  • German: Girit
  • German: Kreta
  • German: Kriti
  • Gothic: 𐌺𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰
  • Greek: Kríti
  • Greek: Κρήτη
  • Gujarati: ક્રેટ
  • Hausa: Crete
  • Hebrew: כריתים
  • Hebrew: כרתים
  • Hebrew: מחוז כרתים
  • Hindi: क्रीट
  • Hindi: क्रीत
  • Hungarian: Kréta
  • Hungarian: Κρήτη
  • Icelandic: Krít
  • Ido: Insulo Kriti
  • Ido: Kriti
  • Indonesian: Kreta
  • Interlingua: Creta
  • Interlingue: Creta
  • Irish: An Chréit
  • Italian: Creta
  • Italian: isola di Creta
  • Japanese: クリート島
  • Japanese: クレータ
  • Japanese: クレータ島
  • Japanese: クレタ
  • Japanese: クレタ島
  • Javanese: Kreta
  • Kannada: ಕ್ರೀಟ್
  • Kazakh: Крит
  • Kirghiz: Крит
  • Komering: Kreta
  • Korean: 크레타 섬
  • Korean: 크레타 지역
  • Korean: 크레타
  • Korean: 크레테 섬
  • Korean: 크레테
  • Korean: 크리티 섬
  • Korean: 크리티 주
  • Korean: 크리티 지역
  • Korean: 크리티
  • Kurdish: Krît
  • Latin: Creta
  • Latvian: Krēta
  • Latvian: Krētas sala
  • Limburgan: Kreta
  • Lingua Franca Nova: Criti
  • Lithuanian: Kreta
  • Lithuanian: Kretos periferija
  • Lombard: Creta
  • Low German: Kreta
  • Lower Sorbian: Kreta
  • Luxembourgish: Kreta
  • Macedonian: Крит
  • Malagasy: Kreta
  • Malagasy: Krity
  • Malay: Crete
  • Malay: Kriti
  • Malayalam: ക്രീറ്റ്
  • Maltese: Kreta
  • Marathi: क्रीट
  • Mazanderani: کرت
  • Min Dong Chinese: Gáik-lī-dī
  • Min Nan Chinese: Crete
  • Min Nan Chinese: Kriti
  • Mingrelian: კრეტა
  • Moroccan Arabic: كريت
  • Northern Frisian: Kreeta
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Kreta
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Kretar
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Kreter
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Kríti
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Candia
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Creta
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Crete
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Girit
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Kreta
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: Kriti
  • Norwegian: Kreta
  • Occitan (post 1500): Creta
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): ܩܪܛܐ
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): ܩܪܝܛܐ
  • Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE): ܩܪܝܛܝ
  • Old English (ca. 450-1100): Creto
  • Ossetian: Крит
  • Persian: جزیره کرت
  • Persian: جزیرهٔ کرت
  • Persian: کرت
  • Persian: کریت
  • Polish: Kreta
  • Pontic: Κρήτη
  • Portuguese: Creta
  • Portuguese: Cretense
  • Portuguese: Ilha de Creta
  • Pushto: کرت
  • Quechua: Creta
  • Quechua: Kriti
  • Romanian: Creta
  • Romanian: Insula Creta
  • Russian: Крит
  • Rusyn: Крета
  • Sardinian: Creta
  • Saterfriesisch: Kreta
  • Scots: Crete
  • Serbian: Крета
  • Serbian: Крит
  • Serbo-Croatian: Krit
  • Sicilian: Creta
  • Sicilian: Crita
  • Silesian: Kreta
  • Sinhala: ක්‍රෙටේ
  • Slovak: Kréta
  • Slovenian: Kandija
  • Slovenian: Kreta
  • South Azerbaijani: کرت
  • Spanish: Candia
  • Spanish: Creta
  • Spanish: Cretense
  • Spanish: Isla de Creta
  • Swahili: Krete
  • Swedish: Kreta
  • Swedish: Kretaner
  • Swiss German: Kreta
  • Tagalog: Creta
  • Tamil: கிரீட்
  • Tatar: Крит
  • Telugu: క్రీట్
  • Thai: Crete
  • Thai: เกาะครีต
  • Thai: เกาะครีท
  • Thai: ครีต
  • Tosk Albanian: Kreta
  • Tsonga: Crete
  • Turkish: Crete
  • Turkish: Girid
  • Turkish: Girit Adası
  • Turkish: Girit
  • Ukrainian: Крит
  • Ukrainian: критяни
  • Ukrainian: периферія Крит
  • Upper Sorbian: Kreta
  • Urdu: اقریطش
  • Urdu: جزیرہ کریٹ
  • Urdu: کریٹ
  • Uzbek: Krit
  • Venetian: Candia
  • Venetian: Càndia
  • Venetian: Creta
  • Vietnamese: Crete
  • Vietnamese: đảo Crete
  • Vietnamese: Kríti
  • Vlaams: Kreta
  • Waray (Philippines): Krete
  • Welsh: Creta
  • Welsh: Crete
  • Western Armenian: Կրետէ
  • Western Frisian: Kreta
  • Western Panjabi: کریٹ
  • Wu Chinese: 克里特岛
  • Yue Chinese: 克里特
  • Zeeuws: Kreta

Greece: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Athens, Thessaloniki, Lesvos, and Arcadia.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Crete”. Photo: MJJR, CC BY-SA 3.0.