Crete which is also called Krete in the modern language is located in the margins of Greece. The peripheral areas of Greece have 13 regions all together of which Krete happens to be one. It is one of the largest islands in the Greek dominion and stretches on an area of 3,219 square miles making it the top five on the list of islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Crete is another place in Greece which has witnessed tremendous amounts of history in terms of Kingdoms and wars. Because of the rich remnants of historic times Crete is a popular tourist destination.
The Minoan States of Phaistos and Knossos are extremely famous and so is the Venetian castle located in Rethymno. Other sites include Gortys, Samaria Gorge as well as countless other monuments and buildings of early Roman times. The beaches also attract many people towards Crete.
The Minoan designs are remnants of the oldest civilization of Europe the Minoans which were residents of Crete between 2600–1400 BC. The region has also been referred as Candia which is an Italian word for many centuries and then later on was called as Creta as well as Kandiye or Girit in Turkish. The island is number two in terms of area occupied amongst the islands of the East Mediterranean Sea. The shape of the island is oblong and the total area occupied is 260 km from east to west in length with the maximum width of 60 km. With 8,336 km² of land the population of the region is 623,666. The capital of the region of Crete is Heraklion and it belongs to the Prefecture of Chania. To the north of the island lies the Sea of Crete and to the south lies the Libyan Sea. The region has long mountain terrains and these cross all across Crete.