Drone Shots Episode 9: Itzedin Fortress (Chania)

AIRVŪZ STAFF NOTE : Contributor Taleporos created this aerial view of a famous Ottoman fortress on the Greek island of Crete. Izzedin was built on Souda Bay in 1872, during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. It moved to prison use during Crete's brief period as an independent country in the early 20th century, and it continued to be used as a prison once Crete became part of Greece in 1908. During the decades when the country was ruled by a series of military juntas, it became notorious as a detention center for political prisoners.

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Original 4k Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SmmTo6_07M The Itzedin (Izzeddin) Fortress (Greek: Φρούριο Ιτζεδίν; Izzeddin means "Glory of the Faith") is an Ottoman fortress in Souda Bay, Crete, near the village of Kalami, best known for its role as a prison for political prisoners in 20th-century Greece. The fortress was established by the then Ottoman governor of the island, Rauf Pasha, in 1872, and named after the son of Sultan Abdülaziz. Already under the Cretan State (1898–1913) it was used as a prison, and continued so when Crete passed under Greek rule, until 1950. Along with the fortress of Souda and Palaikastro, Itzedin was one of the most important fortresses in the region, defending the natural harbour of the island, Souda. Later on, it was used as a prison for for political detainees and for prisoners who received the death penalty. During the Cretan State (1903) the politician Eleftherios Venizelos himself was imprisoned for 15 days, while later during the dictatorship of Theodoros Pagkalos (1924), many political enemies where kept imprisoned. However, after the fall of the dictatorship in 1926, the dictator Pagkalos was also imprisoned there for two years. During the German occupation and the first years of the civil war, the prisons were closed. Itzedin worked again as prison towards the end of the civil war, hosting the first communist political prisoners. This role of the fortress as a place of imprisonment of political prisoners whose only crime was to fight for their ideas and for democracy, inspired two movies later on: “The days of 36” and the “Stone Years” (Petrina Hronia) refer to the Itzedin Prison. Also “The Last Note” was filmed on location in the island of Crete, among which the Itzedin Fortress, which presents the execution of 200 Greek communists fighters by the German occupiers on May 1st, 1944 in Kaisariani. Itzedin Fortress in Chania Prefecture in Crete is unfortunately abandoned by the officials and the State although it should become a museum of modern history as well as a symbol of democracy and freedom. It is, after all, part of the cultural and historical heritage of Crete. Track info: Δίκοπη Ζωή/Dikopi Zoi(Two-edged life) Lyrics: Manos Eleftheriou Music: Thanos Mikroutsikos First version: Yioryos Merantzas This version: Natassa Bofiliou ~ Lyrics ~ Pursued by the evil and injustice and as you fasted on the two-edged life, I suddenly found you marked to be wiped off by the underworld and the (over-)world to be the wheels that have chased you in alleys. And you took the time's primer and love's words for talisman, to find again the grass root and took the hope and the grace, to ascend for building ark only with hope and grace. But how to don't forget your yard and the old opinion of each one, which walked secretly with you to mark again your life and you to be the bird and the hunter in the Heaven's black valleys. They secretly and openly follow you, the gangs and the torturers and day and night look for finding you, but there isn' t way to pass because they never were poets, to worship the land, that they tread. Xiaomi Mi Drone 4k Cinematic 4K Aerial 21:9 Aspect Ratio #droneshots #drone #chania #crete #taleporos