The city has many attributes, such as nice weather, various styles of architecture as well as a rich cultural life. Some of the main attractions of Heraklion are the Venetian fortress and loggia, the Archaeological Museum and the site of Knossos, arguably the oldest city in Europe. Many artists come from Heraklion, the most famous one being Domenicos Theotokopoulos, commonly known as El Greco. 

Lying at the center of Crete’s northern coastline, Heraklion is connected with all major cities on the island via its national road. The economy of Crete focuses on tourism, services and agriculture. The island is among the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean and Heraklion is its international hub. The "Nikos Kazantzakis" Airport is the second busiest in Greece, whereas the port of the city welcomes daily numerous ferries along with cruise and cargo ships. Agricultural products, like fruits, legumes and olive oil, are the basis of the Cretan diet, famous for its benefits on health and span of life. 

The city has been marked not only by its numerous conquerors, but also by physical phenomena that have literally changed the course of its history. Two of the most important ones are earthquakes and volcano eruptions. 

Earthquakes are very common in Crete as the island lies on the southern edge of the Aegean Sea Plate, under which the African Plate is submerging. The fault length created by this ongoing activity has subjected Heraklion, and Crete as a whole, to numerous earthquakes, sometimes with catastrophic results. For example, it is estimated that in 1810 one third of the buildings of the city had suffered multiple damages during an earthquake that was felt all the way to Cyprus and northern Africa.

Even though Crete isn’t known for its eruptions, Heraklion is only 110 km (around 68 miles) south of Santorini, an island in the Aegean Sea marked by volcanic action. This has been proven quite unfortunate in the past. For instance, historians mention that there was an eruption on September 1650 at Kolumbo, a submarine volcano, around 8 km (almost 5 miles) northeast of Santorini. Consequently, a tsunami was created, which reached the shores of Heraklion. As the city was under siege at the time by the Ottomans, its defenders regarded the incident as a bad omen.

Nevertheless, the most prominent eruption in the area had already happened more than 3000 years before. In the 16th century BCE, the volcano of Santorini produced one of the largest explosions in human history. The results were dire: a large part of the island plunged into the sea, earthquakes and tsunamis emerged and the coasts within reach were severely hit. Crete was no exception. The Minoan civilization was affected to such a degree that the phenomenon is mostly known today as the "Minoan eruption". 

All these natural catastrophes have shaped the landscape of Crete and the character of its inhabitants. As a further attestment to the perseverance of the island, the Battle of Crete is regarded as the first time during the Second World War that the German army faced such a strong resistance from the local population. Perhaps Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), one of the biggest Greek writers and a native of Heraklion, has summed up best this continuous battle for survival. Buried on the Venetian walls of the city, his epitaph reads: "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free".