History of Rethymno
The site that is now occupied by Rethymno was inhabited since the Late Minoan or Postpalatial times, as demonstrated by the finding in 1947 of a Late Minoan burial in the suburb of Mastaba to the south of the town.
The autonomous and independent city of Rithymna later grew up on the same site in the fourth and third centuries BC.
This city fell into decline as early as the third century BC, and by the end of the Roman period it was no more than a large village – a status which it retained through the second period of Byzantine rule.
Rethymno began to develop into a stable town once more under the Venetians, after 1210, when its little harbor of Mandraki was laid out for the needs of the transit trade.
Rettimo, as the town was known at that time, was the seat of the Venetian governor of the province.
After the occupation of the town by the Turks in 1646, Rethymno disappeared altogether from the pages of history – despite the fact that it was the centre of administration in western Crete and the largest commercial port in the area.
The people of Rethymno took part in all the revolutionary action to liberate the island and unite it with Greece.
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