Next to the modern port of Heraklion, the visitor can admire the small picturesque Venetian harbor, currently serving as a marina with the impressive fortress of Koules that once protected its entrance. The 2km long jetty of the modern port starts here and is one of the favorite walk tours of the citizens.
Opposite Koules, at the point where there is now the café Marina, until the early 20th century a smaller fort was built to protect the other side of the entrance, called Small Koules. In the coastal avenue we can still see the surviving oblong arched shipyards, the tank of Zane (next to the large shipyards), and the salt storage house (between the large and the small shipyards).
The first major port constructions were carried out by the Arabs in the 9th - 10th century, in order to use Heraklion as a base for their pirate raids. The port was also used for the Byzantine Castle of Handax (the name of Heraklion in that era) after 961 AD. During the Venetian era, the port of Candia (as the Venetians called Heraklion) turned to the most important port in the Eastern Mediterranean with the largest export activity. In the 17th century the port could fit 50 galleys and, especially during the Cretan War (against the Turks) the entrance was blocked each night by a huge metal chain. The Venetian exports to Europe included the famous Malvasia wine (one of the most famous wines of that era), salt (mainly from Elounda), honey, cheese, beeswax, silk, raisins, cotton, and olive oil.
During the Ottoman period, the Turks retained the use of this very important harbor. The beautiful harbor however suffered great destructive alterations by the modernization trend of the 20th century, in order to make room from the seaside road and the new port. Most of the shipyards, Small Koules and the Gate of the Molos were demolished. The last gate was built on the starting point of the current pedestrian road of August 25 and controlled the entrance to the harbor.
