Frederick Williams

Grabusa, or Corycus as it was known in the days of the Ancients, is a small mountainous promontory off the north-western tip of Crete. This island, along with two other islands off the northern coast, Suda, at the entrance to Suda harbour and Spinalonga, in Mirabello Bay remained for some time in the possession of Venice after the conquest of Crete by the Turks in 1669. Grabusa, long regarded as an impregnable fortress, was surrendered in 1692, Suda and Spinalonga in 1715.  A series of rebellions, however, ended in 1897 with the expulsion of the Turkish officials, and the constitution of Crete as an autonomous state under Turkish suzerainty and a Greek commissioner.  After various attempts at union, Crete was allowed to become Greek in 1912-13