It is the largest city on Crete and ships wine, olive oil, raisins, and almonds.
Tourism is especially important to the city.
In 961 it was conquered by the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II, and in the 13th cent. The Venetians, who named the city Candia, fortified it and improved its port. In 1669 it was captured by the Ottoman Turks after a two-year siege. It was the capital of Crete until 1841, and in 1913 it passed to Greece. Listing from Electric Library , a pay service.