KRITI, CRETE, or KRETE, Latin CRETA, Venetian CANDIA, island in the eastern Mediterranean that is an administrative region of Greece. The center of one of the oldest and most important civilizations, the ancient Minoan civilization, the southernmost point of Europe where its name originated and to which it owes so much. The meeting point of three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa – and the cradle of most of what we know as classical civilization which has been so instrumental in shaping our world today. This is the legendary birthplace of Zeus, the king of the gods, and where he took his beloved Europa and where she gave birth to the later King Minoas, the mythical all-powerful king of Crete and creator of the fabulous palace of Knossos and the Minoan civilization. Crete has so much to offer and so much that people envy that at times Romans, Arabs, Venetians and Turks all envied it but, however much they tried, they never conquered it!. And this is where the most peripatetic of all Apostles, Apostle Paul, started his quest to bring Christianity to Europe. In fact, after he appointed Titus as bishop in 65AD, Gortyn became the first Christian community in Greece and Europe.
