CANDI CANDIA. 



17 



of the building, which had served for more than ten 

 centuries as a Christian temple, a candelabrum, 30 

 feet high, formed of sand-stone, was erected (Sept 

 1, 1811), as a symbol of the light which spread from 

 this spot. 



CANDI, or CANDY (anciently Maagrammum) 

 a city qf Ceylon, and capital of a country to which i 



g'ves name ; 80 miles from Cohunbo ; Ion. 80 44 

 j ; lat. 7 3<y N. The town is a poor, miserable 

 place, surrounded by a mud wall. The kingdom is 

 fertile, intersected with rivers, and well furnished 

 with woods. It was annexed to the British domin- 

 ions in 1816. See bishop Heber's Narrative of a 

 Journey through the Upper Provinces of India, fyc., 

 with Notes upon Ceylon, vol. ii, p. 188, et seq. 



CANDIA (in the Turkish language, Kirid, called, 

 in the most ancient times, Idcea, from mount Ida, af- 

 terwards Crete), one of the most important islands oi 

 the Turkish empire, situated in the Mediterranean 

 (Ion. 23 40' 26" 40' E., and lat. 34 50' 35" 55' N., 

 81 miles from the southern extremity of the Morea, 

 92 from Rhodes, and 230 from the African coast), is 

 160 miles long, 14 50 broad, and contains 4026 

 square miles. A high chain of mountains, covered 

 with forests, runs through the whole length of the 

 island, in two ranges, the western part of which is 

 called by the Venetians Monte di Sphachia (formerly 

 Leuce) ; the eastern part, Lasthi or Set/iia (formerly 

 Dicte). On the north side, it declines moderately to 

 a fertile coast, provided with good harbours ; on the 

 south side, steeply to a rocky shore, with few road- 

 steads ; and reaches its greatest height hi the lofty 

 Psiloriti (the ancient Ida), 7670 feet high, and always 

 covered with snow. Mountain torrents, which are 

 swollen in the winter and spring, but almost dry in 

 summer, conduct the waters to the sea. Numerous 

 springs give fertility to most of the valleys, in which, 

 and on the declivities of the mountains, is seen a lux- 

 uriant vegetation. The air is mild ; the summer is 

 cooled by the north winds ; the winter is distinguish- 

 ed only by showers of rain. The island would, there- 

 fore, be a most delightful residence, and supply its 

 inhabitants, as formerly, with grain, wine, and oil, 

 wool, flax, silk, and cotton, fish, honey, game, cattle, 

 the noblest fruits of the south, and even with metals, 

 in abundance, did not the oppressions and cruelties 

 of the Turks prevent all cultivation, and render it 

 impossible for the discouraged inhabitants (who, in- 

 stead of being 1,200,000, as in the time of the 

 Greeks, or 900,000, as in die time of the Venetians, 

 amount only to 300,000, half Greeks, half Turks) to 

 attain more than the most indispensable necessaries 

 of life. Manufactures, trade, navigation, the arts, 

 sciences, are not to be thought of. All the harbours, 

 with the exception of that of Canea, are filled with 

 sand, and the cities are mere aggregations of rub- 

 bish. The capital, Candia, the seat of the pacha, has 

 15,000 inhabitants ; Retimo, 6000 ; Canea, (the an- 

 cient Cydonia,) the most important place of trade on 

 the island, 12,000. 



According to Homer, king Idomeneus sailed from 

 this island to Ilium, with 80 vessels. The Greek 

 mythology made Crete the scene of many of the ad- 

 ventures of the gods and heroes. Here Saturn reign- 

 ed, and afterwards Minos, 1300 years before Christ. 

 After the banishment of the kings, Crete became a 

 republic, and then a seat of the Cilician pirates, till 

 it was conquered by the Romans. In the year 823, 

 it passed from the hands of the Roman emperors in 

 the East into those of the Saracens, who built the ca- 

 pital, Candia, on the ruins of Heraclea, but were ex- 

 pelled again, in 962, by the Greeks. Against the 

 will of the inliabitants, the Byzantine sovereign sold 

 the island to the Venetians in 1204, who, aware of 

 its importance, fortified most of the cities, won the 

 n. 



good will of their new subjects by a mild govern- 

 ment, and repelled all the assaults of the Genoese 

 and Turks till the middle of the seventeenth centu- 

 ry. About this time, the attacks of the Turks be- 

 came more violent, on account of a prize taken by 

 the Maltese, on board of which was the aga of the 

 eunuchs, and, according to a report then very gene- 

 rally spread throughout Europe, the favourite wife 

 and son of the sultan Ibrahim, but probably only a 

 slave of the aga, who had been employed in the se- 

 raglio as a nurse, with her son, to whom, however, 

 the sultan was much attached. This vessel was car- 

 ried, for a short time, into Calismene, a harbour of 

 Candia, without, however, the consent of the Vene- 

 tians, who had no garrison there. The sultan was 

 highly incensed, ascribed all the fault to the Veneti- 

 ans, and landed a large force in Candia, in June 

 1645, which soon took Canea and Retimo, and lie- 

 sieged the capital with vigour. The attack was 

 bravely repelled, but repeated in 1649 ; and was this 

 time also unsuccessful. In 1656, the Turks made a 

 third effort, but afterwards changed the siege into a 

 blockade, which they continued for 10 years, with- 

 out success, since the Venetians, being masters of 

 the sea, supplied the fortress, without difficulty, 

 with provisions, men, and ammunition. In 1667, af- 

 ter the peace of Vasvar, the grand vizier, Kiopurli, 

 in order to restore his reputation, which had been 

 tarnished by the loss of the battle of St Gothard, and 

 to regain the favour of Mohammed IV. by an im- 

 portant conquest, took vigorous measures for the en- 

 tire reduction of Candia, investing the capital, May 

 14th, with 80,000 men. A wall with seven bastions 

 surrounded the fortress ; the same number of rave- 

 lins were -situated in front of the wall, and several de- 

 tached works still farther in advance : a numerous 

 fleet held the Turks in check by sea, and the garri- 

 son, commanded by the chevalier de Ville and Mor- 

 osini, was ready to be buried under the nuns of the 

 fortress. The attack of the Turks was directed 

 against the bastion called Panigra. The Christians 

 untested every step of their advance ; but the Turks 

 were soon at the foot of a breach, which was, how- 

 sver, so well defended by mines, sallies, and intrench- 

 ments, that the most furious assaults, directed by 

 Siopurli in person, who feared the displeasure of his 

 master, were without success. The winter found the 

 Turks still before the breach, and compelled them to 

 withdraw to their intrenchments. The natives of the 

 East, unaccustomed to a winter campaign, were car- 

 ried off by sickness ; and new masses of troops, with 

 all the materials for a siege, supplied the loss. 

 Changes occurred also in the fortress. In the spring 

 of 1668, the brave chevalier de Ville was recalled, 

 m account of the jealousy of his superiors, and a 

 quarrel with Morosini. His place, however, was 

 well supplied by the chevalier St Andre Montbrun. 

 Volunteers likewise poured in from all the countries 

 f Europe, to display their courage on so bloody a 

 field, and to learn the art of war. Numerous engi- 

 neers made the place their school, and Werthmuller, 

 Rimpler, and Vauban, were together here. The 

 >ope sent troops and money ; the Maltese, knights 

 and soldiers. The duke de la Feuillade led hither 

 600 Frenchmen, some of them of the noblest fami- 

 ies, who, with French thoughtlessness, rushed into 

 leedless danger, and were, for the most part, de- 

 stroyed. The count of Waldeck subsequently came 

 with three regiments of Lunenburg troops, so that the 

 garrison was always kept from 8000 to 10,000 strong. 

 Treachery had given the Turks information that the 

 jastions of St Andr6 and Sabionetta were the weak- 

 est points of the fortress : they therefore altered their 

 Jan, and attacked the last mentioned works. De- 

 >arting from the line of operations which they liad 



