Joannes Papadopoulos, born around 1618 in Candia, lived through the last peaceful years of Venetian rule and the long siege of his city by the Ottomans. A refugee since 1669, he sought refuge in the Ionian Islands, spent many years in Istria, and eventually settled in Padua. There, he wrote in 1696, in Italian, his memories of his lost homeland.
He speaks of the massive walls of Candia, its churches, the Morosini fountain, presents customs and recounts incidents, refers to clothing and entertainments, talks about agriculture and livestock, and occasionally remembers the foods and the famous Cretan wines. In a narrative as free as a conversation, he blends his bitterness for the loss of his place with humor, and his nostalgia with sharp observations.
The "time of leisure" that Joannes found in his quiet old age gives us a text unique in its immediacy, which brings vividly before us his "beloved homeland" in its everyday life and in its special, happy, and painful moments.
