The modern city is densely populated and traffic choked, at first overwhelming the visitor. However, in recent years, things have begun to change and efforts are being made to bring out the beauty of the city’s rich cultural history.
Strolling along the coastline, the city wall, or down a park can reveal various historical remains of potentially immense interest to the watchful eye. The knowledgeable visitor will be able to trace the past under the urban sprawl of the present.
The core of the city is still enclosed and defined by the Venetian wall, which includes seven outjutting bastions.
In the southernmost of these, the Martinengo Bastion, is the grave of Nikos Kazantzakis standing on a windswept hilltop with its moving inscription, “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”
