Thesiege of Candia (nowHeraklion, Crete) was a military conflict in whichOttoman forces besieged the Venetian-ruled capital city of theKingdom of Candia.^[2] It lasted from 1648 to 1669 (a total of 21 years) and is one of the longest sieges in history. It ended with an Ottoman victory, but the effort and cost of the siege contributed to the decline of the Ottoman Empire, especially after theGreat Turkish War.

Siege of Candia
Part of theCretan War (Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War)
The siege of Candia byN. Visscher, c. 1680
Date 1 May 1648 – 27 September 1669 (21 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location Heraklion,Venice Result Ottoman victory Territorial changes Crete ceded to Ottomans
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Republic of Venice Knights of Malta Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed	Francesco Morosini
Strength
60,000 soldiers 20,000 workers and miners	10,000 European allies 12,000 Cretan & Venetian citizens
Casualties and losses
118,754 soldiers (Venetian reports)[1]	30,985 Venetian soldiers (Venetian reports)[1]

In the 17th century, Venice's power in theMediterranean was waning as Ottoman power grew. TheRepublic of Venice believed that the Ottomans would use any excuse to pursue further hostilities.

In 1644, theKnights of Malta attacked an Ottoman convoy of sailing ships on its way fromConstantinople toAlexandria. They landed at Candia with the loot, which included the former Chief Black Eunuch of the Harem, thekadi ofCairo, among otherpilgrims heading toMecca.

In response, 60,000 Ottoman troops led byYusuf Pasha disembarked on Venetian Crete with no apparent target, with many suspecting them heading forMalta. Instead, the Ottomans surprisingly struck againstCrete in June 1645, besieging and occupying La Canea (modernChania) and Rettimo (modernRethymno). Each of these cities took two months to be conquered. Between 1645 and 1648, the Ottomans occupied the rest of the island and prepared to take the capital, Candia.

The siege of Candia began in May 1648. The Ottomans spent three months laying siege to the city, cutting off the water supply, and disrupting Venice's sea lanes to the city. They would bombard the city for the next 16 years to little effect.

The Venetians, in turn, sought toblockade the Ottoman-heldDardanelles to prevent the resupply of the Ottoman expeditionary force on Crete. This effort led to a series ofnaval actions. On 21 June 1655 and 26 August 1656, the Venetians were victorious, although the Venetian commander,Lorenzo Marcello, was killed in the latter engagement. However, on 17–19 July 1657, the Ottoman navy soundly defeated the Venetians. The Venetian captain,Lazzaro Mocenigo, was killed by a falling mast.

Venice received more aid from other western European states after the 7 November 1659Treaty of the Pyrenees and the consequent peace betweenFrance andSpain. However, thePeace of Vasvár (August 1664) released additional Ottoman forces for action against the Venetians in Candia.

In 1666, a Venetian attempt to recapture La Canea failed. The following year, Colonel Andrea Barozzi, a Venetianmilitary engineer, defected to the Ottomans and gave them information on weak spots inCandia's fortifications. On 24 July 1669, a French land/sea expedition underFrancois de Beaufort not only failed to lift the siege, but also lost the fleet's vice-flagshipLa Thérèse, a 900-ton French warship armed with 58 cannons, to an accidental explosion. This dual disaster was devastating to the morale of the city's defenders.

Chastened by their failed relief effort and the loss of so valuable a warship, the French abandoned Candia in August 1669, leavingCaptain GeneralFrancesco Morosini, the commander of Venetian forces, with only 3,600 fit men and scant supplies to defend the fortress. He, therefore, accepted terms and surrendered toAhmed Köprülü, theGrand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire on 27 September 1669. However, his surrender without first receiving authorization from the VenetianSenate made Morosini a controversial figure in Venice for some years afterward.

As part of the surrender terms, all Christians were allowed to leave Candia with whatever they could carry. At the same time, Venice retained possession ofGramvousa,Souda andSpinalonga, fortified islands that shielded natural harbors where Venetian ships could stop during their voyages to the eastern Mediterranean. After Candia's fall, the Venetians somewhat offset their defeat by expanding their holdings inDalmatia.

Data obtained from the Archives of the Venetian State, relating to an operation organized by the Venetian Intelligence Services, describes a plan aimed at lifting the siege by infecting the Ottoman soldiers withplague; this was to be done by attacking them with a liquid made from thespleens and buboes of plague victims. "Although the plan was perfectly organized, and the deadly mixture was ready to use, the attack was ultimately never carried out."^[3] According to a scholar from the USA'sNational Defense University, information about this planned attack was previously unknown to historians ofbiological warfare until published in December 2015.^[4]

• Knights of Malta fought at the siege of Candia (in Crete) in 1668
• François de Beaufort, who died there
• Philippe de Montaut-Bénac, marshal under theduke of Beaufort
• Philippe de Vendôme, the nephew of theduke of Beaufort
• Vincenzo Rospigliosi, admiral of the fleet andPope Clement's nephew
• Georg Rimpler, German engineer
• Charles de Sévigné
• Louis de Buade de Frontenac

The siege of Candia is an integral part of the background to the historical novelAn Instance of the Fingerpost, where a significant protagonist is a Venetian veteran of that siege and several plot developments become clear through extensive flashbacks to the Candia events.

In season 6, episode 3 of the HBO series Silicon Valley, Gilfoyle (incorrectly) states that the Siege of Candia was only ended by use of biological warfare, where the Ottomans were defeated when they became infected with the plague-infested lymph nodes of the dead.

• Naval battles of the Cretan Wars
• History of the Republic of Venice
• Ottoman Navy
• Ottoman wars in Europe

• The War for Candia, by the VENIVA consortium.
• Venice Republic: RenaissanceArchived 2015-06-10 at theWayback Machine, 1645–69 The war of Candia, byMarco Antonio Bragadin.
• The Cretan War – 1645–1669 byChrysoula Tzompanaki (in Greek).

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