#rethymni

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Réthymnon at dusk || Crete island, Greece || giorgos_petakos on Instagram

[gemsofgreece]

Στο μοναδικό μικρό οροπέδιο Γιούς κάμπος, στις παρυφές του όρους Κέδρος στο Ρέθυμνο της Κρήτης με τις ορχιδέες να πλημμυρίζουν τα λιβάδια.

In the small plateau of Yus Kambos, at the foot of Mount Kedros, Rethymno, Crete, Greece. 

Photo by Andloukakis on Wikimedia Commons.

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Sartza, the traditional dress of Anógia, Crete, 19th century. 

This is another gorgeous photo from the project Ἐνδυμα Ψυχής / Raiment of the soul, a collaboration between photographer Vangelis Kyris and Anatoli Georgiev with the National Historical Museum of Greece for the presentation of its collection of historical fashion.

More photos from the project  x , x, x, x and x.

[gemsofgreece]

Greece was concured by Turks for 400 years but Crete for only 200 years. In that time period (bc back then it was the Renaissance Era) how different it was there compared to the mainland greece in terms of lifestyle, fashion, architecture).

Before getting to the question, let's clarify that nearly all islands suffered significantly shorter Turkish occupation than the mainland. The most notable example was the Heptanese islands, which were never conquered, but plenty other islands had occupations that lasted for very short periods, like, 6 - 100 years.

Anyway, regarding your question, Crete was occupied for 400 years by the Republic of Venice since the second crusade (1204 AD) until the mids of the 17th century when Turks defeated the Venetians and took over. At this era, Crete was known as Kingdom of Candia. Initially, Cretans resisted the Venetians and attempted numerous revolts. Eventually though, the island prospered and was influenced by the Italian Renaissance.

Western Crete, especially, has cities with Venetian architecture and there are several Venetian monuments such as Frangokastello.

The Venetian harbour of Chania, a Venetian fountain in Rethymno and Frangocastello.

Art flourished in Crete where the Cretan School of Painting was founded. The most influential Greek artist of the time was the Cretan Domenikos Theotokopoulos, who became known in Europe as "El Greco", meaning "The Greek".

Christ Cleansing the Temple - El Greco, 1569, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

Unsurprisingly, the greatest Greek literature and poetry of the era and modern pre-Independence times in general is also Cretan, with Erotokritos by Vitsentzos Kornaros (1600) and Erophile by Georgios Hortatsis (1637), being two of the most notable works.

The original cover of Erophile (1637).

In Erotokritos, for example, we can see the influence of Western European culture on Crete. Kornaros creates a universe with diverse elements; the story supposedly takes place in Ancient Athens, yet there are elements that are Byzantine Greek or folk and other customs and ways inspired by western Europe, such as jousting.

An illustration of "jousting" in an "Erotokritos" manuscript from 1710, completed in the Heptanese islands, the other region of Greece with major west European influence. The manuscipt is now in the British Museum.

Many of the few (whatever that means) Greek philosophers of the era were from Crete.

As for fashion, according to the following source Cretans were reluctant to follow the new fashion trends Venetians brought with them and as a result their attires were archaic, still following Ancient and Byzantine trends. I believe that because the traditional clothing of Crete doesn't look more western or too distant from the various local fashions of other Greek regions. So at the time Cretans would wear the Greek tunica or short cloaks for the winter and boots. They also carried old-fashioned bows and arrows, as well as knifes, and it was a great shame for a man to have no beard. Some of these elements have been preserved to the traditional Cretan attires, such as the war knifes, the boots and the definite preference for a bearded face or at least a mustache.

Cretan costume, ancient and modern.

Cretan costume, ancient and modern. Travels in Crete (Vol. 2) by Robert Pashley. Cambridge und London, 1837.

Here is another illustration of fashion in the Kingdom of Candia though:

Women from Heraklion, Crete - Claude Aubriet, 1665-1742.

There must have been some western influence in the fashion of the era, apparently though most of these elements were not preserved by the local population after the departure of the Venetians.

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Which are the best universities in Greece?

The top 3 got to be the National Capodistrian University of Athens, the University of Crete and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.