342 Georgopoulou
Mediterranean their population was multi-ethnic: Latins/Venetians, Greeks,
Jews, and a few Armenians (immigrants of the mid-14th century) figure promi-
nently among the residents. Τhe fortified harbour of Glarenza could accom-
modate large ships so the town became one of the regular stopping-off points
in the Mediterranean.45 In 1209 the Venetians tried to do something similar
in order to divert pilgrims to Candia; by promising the reward of papal indul-
gences the Venetians had intended to turn the port of Candia into a regular
stopping-point for pilgrims to the Holy Land.46 Candia’s harbour was also sig-
nificant for its arsenals, first mentioned in 1281 and continuing to be improved
in the following centuries; they provided shelter to the Venetian galleys in the
winter or the opportunity for necessary repairs.47
The Venetians of Crete have bequeathed us an important archival reposi-
tory for the length of their rule in the Eastern Mediterranean. This documen-
tary material coupled with the extensive archaeological remains in the cities
of Candia (Herakleion), Rethymnon and Canea, offers rich information on suc-
cessfully planned colonial urban spaces. Candia, the capital city of Venetian
Crete was designed as a city with imperial aspirations; similarly the castle
of Chlemoutsi in the Peloponnese commanded a princely demeanour with
grand ambitions. Unfortunately very little archival material exists for places in
Greece that were not under Venetian control. Candia will be presented here as
an example of a full-fledged colonial capital and it will be juxtaposed with the
urban foundations of the Villehardouin in the Peloponnese.
As soon as the Venetians settled Crete they reorganised the capital city,
Candia, to satisfy the needs of the colonists. The other major centres of the
island, Canea, and Rethymnon followed soon. In all colonies large admin-
istrative monuments housed the Venetian government and new large
45 I am grateful to Demetrios Athanasoulis for sharing with me in typescript his study “The
Triangle of Power: Building Projects in the Metropolitan Area of the Crusader Principality
of the Morea,” in Viewing the Morea: Land and People in the Late Medieval Peloponnese, ed.
Sharon E.J. Gerstel, (Washington dc, 2013), pp. 111–51, where he offers a new interpretation
of Frankish architecture in the Morea’s metropolitan area based on new archaeological
discoveries (pp. 115–127). Coins and pottery from Italy confirm the international com-
mercial relationships that were so significant in Glarenza but there were also ceramics
(St Symeon ware) and glassware that suggest connections with the Middle East. See also
Angeliki Tzavara, Clarentza, une ville de la Morée latine (xiii–xve siècles) (Venice, 2008)
and Demetrios Athanasoulis, Γλαρέντζα: Clarence (Athens, 2005).
46 Tafel and Thomas, Urkunden, 2:87–88.
47 Georgopoulou, Venice’s Mediterranean Colonies, pp. 66–73; Ruthi Gertwagen, “The
Venetian Port of Candia, Crete (1299–1363): Construction and Maintenance,” in
Mediterranean Cities: Historical Perspectives, ed. Irad Malkin and Robert L. Hohlfelder
(London, 1988), pp. 141–58.