Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-31
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Candid, the Rome of Crete-''The prosperity and importance of the Cre- tan port of Candid was so preponder- ant during the occupancy of the Medi- terranean island by the Venetians that the whole province assumed the name of the city and even today most charts and maps label the land Crete or Can d1a, says war geography bulletin Of the National Geographic Society de- scribing the former capital of Greece's largest insular possession.
 Today Candid, near the center of the northern shore of the island, is second in importance to the new capi- tai, Canea, near the western extrem- lty. The larger city enjoys the ad- vantage of proximity to Suda Bay, the only deep water harbor of the island, but in historical and legendary asso- citations Candid ranks with Rome, Athens, Babylon, Ninevah, Memphis, Tyre and Sidon, owing to the adjacent ruins of the great Minoan capital of knossos (Chossus) where evidences of an astonishing civilization existing nearly two thousand years before the Christian era, have been unearthed. as described in recent National Geo. graphic Society bulletin.
 "The present city was founded by Saracen pirates who wrested the is- land from the Byzantine emperors early in the ninth century. They which Candid is derived. On many maps the town is called Megalokastron (Great Fortress).
 "One of the striking features of Can dia is the number of religious edifices of which it boasts. With less than 25,000 inhabitants it has numerous synagogues, Greek churches, a catbe- dral and fourteen mosques. The me tropolftan of Crete resides here. One of the institutions of which the city is justly proud is the museum containing priceless antiquities taken from the ruins of Knossos. Phaestus and other vanished Cretan strongholds.
 "The Notifications which surround Candid were begun by the Genoese in the 18th century and greatly strength ened by the Venetians during four sue ceeding centuries, but walls of stone were unable to resist the prolonged siege which the Turks conducted in the 17th century, even though the de- fenSe of the city by the renowned Ve- nettan admiral Francesca Morosini furnishes one of the most stirring pages in the history of Crete. This great captain, one of the most distin- guished of his age. was member of a noble family which furnished many doSeS to the powerful republic. For eighteen months he and his followers performed prodigies of valor in an ef- fort to drive off a vastly superior in vesting force of Turks under the vizier Ahmed Kuprili, but after sustaining 30,O00 casualties, killed and wounded Morosini capitulated ins order to save the surviving inhabitants. For this surrender he was cOurC-mar rtlaleQ' put was very properly eXonerated of all blame lived to redeem the prestig- of Venice abroad by conquering Athens and all Peloponnesus, in recognition of which he was jubilantly acclaimed by the Italian populace and received :he title of APelopOnneSiaca.'
 Turkish rule over Crete was not an unmitigated misfortune. In fact, dur ing the second quarter of the nine teenth century a wise and just A1ban- ian pasha, Gustafa, one of the most brilliant statesmen of his time, gave the island it's golden age.' He encour-' aged agriculture, improved the roads, introduced an Albanian police force and succeeded in stamping out one of the curses of the country-brigandage During his regime the harbor of Can dfa, which had become choked with silt, was deepened so that it could &C., commodate vessels of light draft, such as frequented it during the heyday of Venetian supremacy.
 Candia exports quantities of olive oil soap manufactured in the vicinity, and also has a moderately f1ourishing trade in dried raiSinS, wine, almonds, and silk cocoons.
 'tOne of the relics of Venetian occu- patton is an aquduct. built in 1927, which has withstood the ravages of time so successfully that it still sup plies the city with much of It's water.
 'One of the gruesOme sights wh. oh formerly aroused the keen pity of tourists was a colony of 1epers, per- haps, perhaps 70 families. which cllls- tered in diseased squalor about St. Georges Gate. They have been re- moved recently to Spinalonga, on the Bay of Mirabeila.n