METOPO (WP2)

Candia (in Greek Chandakas, old name for the city of Heraklion in Crete) is a city with a long history. The project will focus on the analysis of some of its characteristics in the 15th-18th centuries at the time of the transition from the Venetian to the Ottoman rulers.  After a twenty years siege Candia was occupied by the Ottomans in 1669.  Various archival sources provide a complete picture of the city: the TT 980 register, compiled immediately after the occupation of the city (1669/70), contains the list of Orthodox Christians and Jews who remained in Candia and paid capital tax on the basis of their property. Even more important is the register TT 798, in which the houses and land parcels of Candia in every district are documented.

The research will focus on the history of the city of Candia; it will study the ratio of public and private space, the land uses and water networks, the population by religion in different neighborhoods etc. Using available historical maps and registers the Venetian city will be mapped and digital files will be created with precise information on the boundaries of the different land parcels and their characteristics (ownership, information on the characteristics of the structure etc.).  The gradual transformation of the city under the Ottoman rule will be studied, as well as, the evolution of the city afterwards.

Another significant research area will be the analysis of the locational patterns of the population of Crete (urban and rural) during the Ottoman occupation. The analysis will use data available in the "Digital Crete – at the times of the Ottomans - Housing" database, developed at IMS, that has information from various various/censuses conducted in Crete during the Ottoman occupation (1650 to 1897).  The primary focus of the analysis will be the differentiation of the locational patterns of the Christian vs the Muslim population.

More specifically the research to be carried out includes:

• Using data from TT 798, compilation of a database for the districts of Candia. The database will include information on the boundaries of the various parcels of land, their area, other descriptive information (number of rooms, yards, outbuildings, trees, wells, water tanks), name of owners (former and new), as well as, sale prices of real estate.  These data will be supplemented with information from the codes of the Turkish Archive of Heraklion. The research will be implemented at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies (IMS) of FORTH.
• Design and implementation of the digital infrastructure for supporting the documentation of the history of the built man-made space of the city of Candia. The infrastructure developed will use maps and other and other multifaceted material. The digital infrastructure will use the data developed by IMS and will be based on the Synthesis 3.0 software. The research will be implemented at the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of FORTH.
• Documentation in a digital file of various historical maps of the old town of Candia (Venetian and urban maps of the 19th century) so that they can be available for further research. The maps will be georeferenced and a database will be developed with information on the date they were created, the cartographer, the map collection they belong to and other characteristics of the map. Additionally, the geographic characteristics and the events portrayed on the map will be documented so that they can be related to other historical records. The research will be implemented at the Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics (IACM) of FORTH.
• Analysis of the locational patterns of the population of Crete (urban and rural) during the Ottoman occupation.  The analysis will use the data from the "Digital Crete – at the times of the Ottomans - Housing" database that contains data from different registers/censuses for the period 1650-1897. The analysis will focus primarily on the locational patterns of the Christian and Muslim population and will be carried out at the settlement, municipality and prefecture geographic levels. The research will be implemented at the Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics (IACM) of FORTH.

Institute of Mediterranean Studies
Scientific coordinator: Elias Kolovos
Research team: Efthymios Machairas, Evita Dandali, Dimitris Giatzoglou, Petros Kastrinakis

Institute of Computer Science
Scientific coordinator: Chrysoula Bekiari
Research team: Demetris Aggelakis, George Samaritakis, Lida Charami

Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics
Scientific coordinator: Poulicos Prastacos
Research team: Eleni Gadolou, Evita Dandali