During the Ottoman-Venetian Wars, the city of Candia, today Heraklion on Crete, was besieged for 21 long years. The siege of Candia, regarded as one of the longest sieges in history, lasted from 1648–1669. The Venetians had been ruling the land ever since the Fourth Crusade, and Candia was in a key position in the Mediterranean.
The supremacy over the Mediterranean was the cause of numerous clashes between the two powers – Venice and the Ottoman Empire. They had crossed swords for it from the early 15th to the late 16th century when the Battle of Lepanto occurred.
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