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Last modified: 2015-08-10 by ivan sache
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Flag of Rethymno - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2014
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The municipality of Rethymno (54,900 inhabitants in 2011; 39,750 ha) was formed in the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Arkadi (Αρκάδι, 5,644 inh.), Lappa (Λάππα, 2,628 inh.), Nikiforos Fokas (Νικηφόρος Φωκάς, 6,599 inh.) and Rethymno (35,687 inh.).
Rethymno was built in antiquity (ancient Rhithymna and Arsinoe), but was
never a competitive Minoan centre. It minted however its own coins and one
of these coins is today depicted as the crest of the town with two dolphins in a circle.
Rethymno began a period of growth when the Venetian conquerors of the island decided to put an intermediate commercial station between Heraklion and Chania, acquiring its own bishop and nobility in the process. Today's old town, almost entirely built by the Venetians, is one of the best preserved old towns in Crete. The town was captured by the Ottomans in 1646. Resmo (in Turkish) was the centre of a sanjak during Ottoman rule, which lasted almost three centuries.
During the Battle of Crete (20-30 May 1941), the Battle of Rethymno was
fought between German paratroopers and Australian and Greek forces. Although initially unsuccessful, the Germans won the battle after receiving
reinforcements from Maleme in the northwestern part of the island.
Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2014
The flag of Rethymno (Kokkonis website) is blue with the municipal emblem in ochre in the center.
Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2014
