The Landscape of Medieval Greece 343
western churches served the Latin population. Both the hinterland and the cit-
ies were populated primarily by Greeks, but in the urban centres the Venetians
constituted a considerable part of the population. This meant that the older
Byzantine city of Chandax had to be reorganised to accommodate the new
Latin elite. Each colonised city with its political, economic, social, and reli-
gious institutions was essential in the construction of the maritime empire of
the Venetians. The physical appearance of the cities played a significant role
in the processes of cultural negotiation needed to found the new colonies on
safe ground.48
The Venetian colony of Crete was founded as an implantation/extension
of the metropolis (Venice) in the Oltremare and lasted until 1669. The archi-
tecture and urban planning of the Venetians in their colonies in relation to
the architecture commissioned by non-Latins was a means to mitigate con-
flict among the diverse population groups of the city while still embodying
Venetian colonial ideology. Examples of a cultural rapprochement between
Greeks and Latins abound in the arts of Crete but are still not perfectly under-
stood. For instance, western architectural features and artistic styles of paint-
ing appear on many Orthodox churches of Crete from the second quarter of
the 14th century.49
In general, relatively few Venetians moved to the colonies (roughly up to
ten percent of the whole population) and when they did so they lived almost
exclusively within the limits of the towns.50 The first colonists were required
to reside in the city despite the fact that they owned extensive landholdings
in the interior of the island.51 A Venetian was placed at the head of the colony
and the colonists spoke their own language and lived according to the cus-
toms and laws of the metropolis, observing the same feast days as in Venice
and recognising St Mark as their patron saint. For practical and topographical
reasons only certain sections of Venice’s Levantine colonies strove to emulate
48 Georgopoulou, Venice’s Mediterranean Colonies, pp. 7–8.
49 Maria Vassilaki, “The Church of the Virgin Gouverniotissa at Potamies, Crete.”
50 On the different patterns of settlement and colonisation in the Eastern Mediterranean
after 1204 see David Jacoby, “The Encounter of Two Societies: Western Conquerors and
Byzantines in the Peloponnesus after the Fourth Crusade,” American Historical Review 78
(1973), 873–906, esp. 874. Jacoby argues convincingly that “the very nature of the ruling
class as well as the structure of the local society determined to a large extent the character
of their encounter.”
51 Sefakas, Παραχώρησις, p. 96, attributes this requirement to three reasons: first, the protec-
tion of the Venetian citizens; second, the preservation of their language and ethnic char-
acter; and third, the creation of a Venetian environment in which the state authorities
would exercise their rule.