Gate Pantocrator (Chanioporta)
Gate Pantocrator, known more as Chanioporta, is one of the central points of Heraklion and used to be the main exit to the western Crete. From a single room inside the gate start two arched tunnels with different entrances; the main tunnel leads to the west and the military tunnel leads to the southern low square of bastion Pantocrator.
Above the inner main gate there is a relief depicting Pantocrator (Almighty) with an inscription OMNIPOTENS, while on the outer side, the inscription is written in Greek. The facade, designed by Michele Sanmicheli with two arched entrances flanked by pilasters, is characterized by symmetry and alternating whitish and dark stones.
In the early 20th century, after the appearance of the car, several points of the Walls of Heraklion were torn down to build roads. So here too, right next to the gate of Pantocrator, the gate of Chanioporta was opened and was later bridged (in 1915). Today the restored tunnels of Chanioporta host exhibitions and conferences.
