The School, the Wall and the Power Plant

The view from my kitchen window: school, wall and power plant.

When I sit at my kitchen table, there’s a unique panorama on display through the window. I think of it as layers of local history. From the red-tiled roof of the bright yellow school in the foreground to the time-worn stones of the arches that rise behind it to the modernist lines and the green roof of the building that houses the  Natural History Museum of Crete across the coast road, each element tells a story about Heraklion’s past.

In this land of very ancient history, the Bodossakeio,

Entrance to the Bodossakeio School

2^ndelementary school of Heraklion, is a recent landmark. Built in 1930, the funding for the school came from the Greek industrialist and philanthropist, Prodromos Bodosakis. I watch small children being dropped off each morning and guess they couldn't care less about the school’s neoclassical façade as they run up the steps into the building. I wonder if their teachers tell them the sometimes questionable rags-to- riches story of their founder. You can read it here.

The remains of the Dermatas Gate

My eye looks beyond the school to the ruins of a portal that originally formed part of the 16^th century Venetian fortifications that surround Heraklion. This is the Dermatas  or Jewish Gate, so named for its proximity both to the tanneries (dermata means leather in Greek) that once existed in the area and the Jewish quarter.  Only a small section of this part of the ancient wall and arches remains visible today but at one time this thoroughfare allowed pedestrian  access from the sea into the city. It was here, during the 24 year long Siege of Candia by the Ottomans in the 17^th century,  that the French sailed up with reinforcements for the struggling Venetians only to have their efforts reduced by Ottoman cannon fire. The modernization of Heraklion in the 20^th century meant that the gate was closed off and parts of it demolished in order to make way for new infrastructure.

The power plant

The Natural History Museum of Crete stands across the road from what remains of the Dermatas Gate. Constructed in 1920, the Elektriki (power plant) served as Heraklion’s first electricity company until it was given to the University of Crete 80 years later.  

In my local wanderings, reading signs and then confirming facts online, I gradually pieced together the following story, a story that brings together three landmarks:

On 20^th May 1941, German transport planes began dropping thousands of members of the 7^th German Paratroop Division into strategic centres on Crete including Heraklion.  They took control of the port area to the east and were determined to advance into the heart of the city but Greek, Allied and Cretan forces managed to push them back so that the Germans were forced to withdraw to a position outside the city walls. They encountered little resistance when they arrived at Elektriki and, after killing several power plant employees, the Germans again tried to move towards the city centre along the coast road. Once more, the local resistance pushed back and the Germans retreated  to the power plant. Meanwhile, across the road and just inside the Venetian wall, Greek and Cretan forces had transformed the Bodossakeio School into a command post in order to keep an eye on the Germans at Elektriki. They likely understood that their improvised defences wouldn’t deter the enemy for long and, as it happened, two days later the Germans overcame the local fighters and took control of Heraklion.

The school, the wall and the power plant - the view from my window.