Every year the Venetians used worn out ships to transport enormous quantities of stone from the island of Dia and from Fraskia, the beach below Rogdia. These were then sunk fully laden, so as to form a breakwater capable of protecting the fortress from the ravages of the Cretan Sea.
Enormous waves still batter the fortress walls, causing serious damage, 2004 (photograph: Multimedia Lab)
The Koules fortress in the winter, early 20th century (Historical Museum of Crete, © S.C.H.S, Heraklion)
