Venetian Walls and Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis
Venetian Walls and Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis
Venetian Walls and Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis
4
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Plan your visit
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
564 within 5 kms
Attractions
75 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
318 reviews
Excellent
129
Very good
114
Average
63
Poor
7
Terrible
5
Jana C
Prague, Czech Republic4,623 contributions
July 2021
We have walked a lot of the fortifications and also visited the simple grave of Nikos Kazantzakis. We know his work Zorba the Greek but didn't put his name to it until later. The grave is so simple one wouldn't think he was so famous.
Written 16 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Graham B
Devizes, UK41,460 contributions
Sept 2013 • Couples
You just cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer scale of the fortifications all along the length of the old city walls. For many visitors, all they might see is the looming Sabbionera bastion which towers over the main bus station but the walls are generally in pretty good condition and some sections have been extensively restored.
We followed Odos Pediados from the southern end of Plateia Eleftherias and you will see a track which leads you up to the top of the battlements. From here you can walk a considerable section of the walls in a clockwise direction and you will soon reach the Agios Andreas bastion which affords wonderful views across the water. Walking in the opposite direction will bring you to the Pantokratoros bastion, and then the Martinengo bastion where you will find Kazantzakis' Tomb.
The walls do contain several enormous and well defended gates, the most impressive for me being the Porta Hanion which you can walk to west along Kalokerinou St and the Porta Kenouria, which is found at the end of Odos Evans.
These huge walls have defended the city for many centuries and whilst they may not initially be as impressive as the walls that contain Rhodes Old Town, they are every bit as historic.
We followed Odos Pediados from the southern end of Plateia Eleftherias and you will see a track which leads you up to the top of the battlements. From here you can walk a considerable section of the walls in a clockwise direction and you will soon reach the Agios Andreas bastion which affords wonderful views across the water. Walking in the opposite direction will bring you to the Pantokratoros bastion, and then the Martinengo bastion where you will find Kazantzakis' Tomb.
The walls do contain several enormous and well defended gates, the most impressive for me being the Porta Hanion which you can walk to west along Kalokerinou St and the Porta Kenouria, which is found at the end of Odos Evans.
These huge walls have defended the city for many centuries and whilst they may not initially be as impressive as the walls that contain Rhodes Old Town, they are every bit as historic.
Written 17 September 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrewab312
Acre, Israel137 contributions
Sept 2013 • Friends
The city's fortifications are a must. They are massive and impressive, they are being maintained (to some extent) and developed as a tourist attraction, and a visit to Heraklion wouldn't be complete without checking out this attraction.
Written 20 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Catalin H
324 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
This is truly disgraceful.
The ruins of the Venetian fortress are undeniably impressive, which is no surprise given how significant the island of Crete, and especially the city of Heraklion (Candia), was to the Venetian Empire.
With a bit of effort, the walls of the old citadel could easily become one of Greece’s most important tourist attractions. Sadly, the authorities seem uninterested in restoring this monument, leaving the walls in the state you see in the pictures: neglected, overgrown with weeds, and almost entirely overlooked by tourists.
If the cost of excavation is prohibitive, even a few informational plaques placed here and there would be helpful. But instead, the authorities are doing nothing, and the walls continue to deteriorate year after year, especially given the frequent surface earthquakes in the area.
The ruins of the Venetian fortress are undeniably impressive, which is no surprise given how significant the island of Crete, and especially the city of Heraklion (Candia), was to the Venetian Empire.
With a bit of effort, the walls of the old citadel could easily become one of Greece’s most important tourist attractions. Sadly, the authorities seem uninterested in restoring this monument, leaving the walls in the state you see in the pictures: neglected, overgrown with weeds, and almost entirely overlooked by tourists.
If the cost of excavation is prohibitive, even a few informational plaques placed here and there would be helpful. But instead, the authorities are doing nothing, and the walls continue to deteriorate year after year, especially given the frequent surface earthquakes in the area.
Written 11 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CreteBlue
Athens200 contributions
Dec 2010 • Couples
Having read so many of Kazantzakis' books, this place really meant something for me...
Written 20 November 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maria D
Athens, Greece272 contributions
Aug 2014 • Solo
On the highest spot of Heraklio, on the venetian walls, one of the most important fortifications on the Mediterranean, is the tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis (known for 'Zorba the Greek') surrounded by a small garden. He chose to rest in peace on the peaceful hill overlooking the city..
Written 1 September 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MaggieT93
Cardiff, UK38 contributions
Aug 2014 • Couples
We finished off our excursion to Palace of Knossoss, Heraklion and the Archaeological Museum at this very simple, but moving site. It is set on a hill overlooking the busy town of Heraklion......seemed a million miles away......worth a visit.
Written 23 August 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TERRAvelista
London, UK18,505 contributions
June 2014 • Solo
The Venitian walls are located close to everything in Heraklion and you cannot miss them: the bus stop is not far and the Natural History museum and Historical museum are located some 5min walk away. Plus you do not have to pay for anything.
Written 22 June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Graham G
Plymouth, UK9 contributions
June 2012 • Couples
Worth a visit to see the arsenals and the Venetian Fortress on the front. Also the church about 1/3 rd. of a mile from the port.
Written 13 June 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John M
Heraclion18 contributions
June 2011
Despite the rich cultural history of the city and a wall that's stood for over five centuries around its traditional core, until fairly recently there were few attempts to showcase it or even allow citizens and visitors alike to do anything there than park their cars.
Although the old moat is still underutilized, it's at least being used as a park with some facilities for families to bring their children. There's a cobblestone path following the length of the wall itself, easily reachable by a number of ramps leading up to it.
The view, especially around the sunset, is pretty magnificent; look for the western side to enjoy it over the sea.
Dogs are officially not allowed on the wall even though it sounds like an ideal location to go for a stroll with your best friend; still many people do so anyway, and in fact use the wide grass fields found there to engage in training and socialization sessions. Just be prepared that someone might gripe at you about it.
Kazantzakis' tomb is found here also. If you've read the man's books or know his personal history you'll get something out of it; otherwise you might want to skip that part since it'll probably give you very little to take away from the experience.
It's one of the parts of Heraklion I don't think any visitor should shy from. It's fun, easy to do and a definite opportunity to take some pretty impressive pictures with a view of the city you can't get anywhere else.
Although the old moat is still underutilized, it's at least being used as a park with some facilities for families to bring their children. There's a cobblestone path following the length of the wall itself, easily reachable by a number of ramps leading up to it.
The view, especially around the sunset, is pretty magnificent; look for the western side to enjoy it over the sea.
Dogs are officially not allowed on the wall even though it sounds like an ideal location to go for a stroll with your best friend; still many people do so anyway, and in fact use the wide grass fields found there to engage in training and socialization sessions. Just be prepared that someone might gripe at you about it.
Kazantzakis' tomb is found here also. If you've read the man's books or know his personal history you'll get something out of it; otherwise you might want to skip that part since it'll probably give you very little to take away from the experience.
It's one of the parts of Heraklion I don't think any visitor should shy from. It's fun, easy to do and a definite opportunity to take some pretty impressive pictures with a view of the city you can't get anywhere else.
Written 6 June 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing