Like the Fertile Crescent, Crete had rich soil, a warm climate, and plenty of water. With less time spent fighting to live, the Cretans began to make complicated things. From the wild crocus flowers which covered their island, the Cretans collected saffron used in yellow dye, in food, and in medicine. From the Egyptians, they received rich cloth and jewels. From the Hittites, they learned how to use iron. From the wealthy Lydians, they learned to use money. From Phoneicia, the Cretans received the alphabet which is used today.
In various later centuries the island was ruled in turn by ancient Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Venetians, Turks, and modern Greeks.
Cretans chose kings to rule over them for seven years each. The king was known as "Minos", and the people "Minoans". The capital of Crete was Knossos (nos' us). Beautiful friezes (decorating bands) were on the walls. The symbol of the double-ax was used, and is thought to represent the power of a king. The throne was only a seat with a high back, and the nobles had only benches to sit on. However, the benches were covered with red and white plaster. On the walls were painted fish, dolphins, and seaweed. The queen had her own private staircase so she could go upstairs without bothering the men. Several rooms in the palace had jars which were six feet tall, and were used to keep wheat, oil, dye and other things.
On Crete the Minoan Culture started 4700 years ago. The palace of Knossos is well-known and is a labyrinth. Visitors were lost in the labyrinth unless they used a string behind them to find their way back. In this place, it was said that a Minotaur, half bull and half man, lived. Every year seven young men and seven girls were sacrificed to the Minotaur. Many scholars think sacrifices to a bull were made because the Cretans thought the sound of an earthquake was an angry bull.
The Cretans also worshiped the Great Mother Cybele, or Snake Goddess. Often, her picture was carved in statues with gold decorations and with snakes curled around the arms. Snakes were thought to protect houses, so each home had a special room for snakes. Sometimes a little table with grooves cut into it was put in a comfortable place so snakes could sip some milk from a cup.
The Cretans loved games, food, athletics, music, and beautiful clothes. They were the first people to build stone theaters where many people were amused by parades and music. Girls could even help bullfighters. In bullfighting, the Minoans did not kill the bull, but the male fighter had to grab the horns of an attacking bull, throw himself on the back of the animal, and then land on the ground; the girl helped the bullfighter keep his balance.
Women wore long, full skirts with very tiny waists, complicated hairstyles, and lots of jewelry. The men wore small belts around their waists. They shaved with stones, rubbed their teeth with pumice stone, and had their body hair burnt by a barber.
The Cretans ate fish, birds, and beef. They had barley cooked in many ways and ate lots of cheese, nuts, and honey. They thought only uncivilized people drank cow's milk, so they drank goat's milk instead. The Cretans sang, played games, and guessed riddles. Even though they ate with their fingers, they had the food cut into tiny pieces before it was served.
The Cretans were peaceful people without fortifications to protect them from an attack. In about 1450 B.C., the Greek Mycenaeans captured Crete, after Knossos, Crete's capital, had been shaken by an earthquake.
Rhodes
Rhodes is a Greek island, belonging to the Dodecanese island group. In Greek it is called "Rhodos".
The largest cities are Rhodes City in the north and Lindos in the south-east.
About 120,000 people live on Rhodes. It has an international airport in Paradisi in the north, near to Rhodes (city).
First settlement were on Rhodes at the 16th century before Christ.
Rhodes was an important Fort for the Knights of St. John in their war against the Turkish invasion. In 1644 the Turkish occupied Rhodes.
1912 Italy won the Dodecanese from Turkey, 1943 the German took them over, 1945 the British. Since 1946 the Islands belong to Greece.
Rhodes lives mostly on tourism industry now.
During antiquity, Rhodes was an ancient Greek state. Rhodes' people belonged to the Greek race of Dorians. In those days there were three important towns in the island - Lindos, Kameiros and Ialysos. Later, during the fourth century B.C., Rhodes city was founded. Between the third and first century B.C. Rhodes was a powerful state.
In the first century, Rhodes was conquered by the Romans. Later it came under Byzantine rule. In the Middle Ages, it was conquered by the Knights of St. John, who were crusaders. They built the big castles in the city of Rhodes. Later, it came under Turkish rule, Italian rule and in the year 1946 was united with Greece.
Tenerife
Tenerife is one of the seven Canary Islands. It is part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the province being on the island. The other province in the canary Islands is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. With 899.833 inhabitants, Tenerife is the most populated island of the Canary Islands and Spain.
The flag adopted by the island is that of a white St Andrew's cross on a navy blue background this is due to St Andrew being the patron saint of the island.
Geologically it grew up from a volcano, the Teide. This volcano has had many violent eruptions over its very long history, the most recent of those eruptions took place in 1909.
Island capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, other important cities are Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava, Arona, Adeje and San Cristóbal de La Laguna, all in the north of the island. Also important town of Candelaria, where they worship the patron saint of the Canary Islands, the Virgin of Candelaria.
The island is currently dependent on the tourism industry for much of its income.
Tenerife has two international airports, one in the south near the centres of tourism in Playa de Las Americas, Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos, and one in the north near Santa Cruz, which is where the world's worst plane disaster happened on March 27, 1977. Two Boeing 747 planes collided on the runway and killed 583 people.
The biggest tourist attractions are the volcano Teide (top is more than 3,000 m above sea level) and the Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz.
Mallorca
Majorca (or Mallorca) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the Balearic Islands. About 869,067 people (as of January 1, 2010) live on Mallorca, making it the second most populated island of Spain. Palma de Mallorca is the capital of Mallorca. Palma has a population of 375,000. Mallorca has one international airport and one university. The economy of the island depends on the tourism industry.
Other important cities in Mallorca are Calvià (43.499), Manacor (35.908), Llucmajor (29.891), Marratxí (28.237), Inca (26.504), Felanitx (16.566), Pollença (15.987), Alcúdia (15.897) and Sóller (12.521).
Huế
Huế is a city and a district in Central Vietnam. About 200,000 people live in the city of Huế. From 1802 to 1945 Huế was the capital city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty. Today people can visit the Imperial City, where the Nguyen emperors lived and ruled, and the tombs of the Nguyen emperors. Huế has an Medicinical University and is the seat of an archebishop.
The city is famous for food that is unique to the city, especially the dish bun bo Hue.
It was also the place where the Battle of Huế was fought, which was one of the longest and deadliest battles in the Vietnam War.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang (no diacritics) is a city with about 350,000 inhabitants in the middle south of Vietnam. Its name is spelled with no diacritics in the Vietnamese language. It lives on tourism and fishing industry.
Da Nang