An Ottoman expeditionary fleet arrived on Crete and landed troops near Canea (Chania), opening the long Ottoman–Venetian struggle for control of the island.
Ottoman forces captured the small Venetian-held fortress on Agioi Theodoroi (St. Todero), securing a staging point for operations against western Crete.
Ottoman troops invested the key port of Chania (Canea), initiating a major early siege that would decide control of western Crete.
After 56 days of siege, Chania capitulated to the Ottomans—an early turning point that enabled continued Ottoman advances across Crete.
Ottoman forces besieged Rethymno (Retimo), continuing the methodical reduction of Venetian strongpoints outside Candia.
The fall of Rethymno further consolidated Ottoman control over Crete, leaving Candia (Heraklion) as the principal remaining Venetian stronghold.
Ottoman forces began the formal siege of Candia (modern Heraklion), cutting utilities and tightening the ring around the fortified Venetian capital—an operation that would last more than two decades.
A Venetian squadron defeated an Ottoman force at Focchies (near Smyrna/İzmir), part of Venice’s wider effort to interdict Ottoman convoys bound for Crete during the Candia siege.
The Venetian fleet defeated the Ottoman fleet in a multi-day Aegean engagement culminating on 10 July; despite the tactical success, it did not decisively end Ottoman resupply of Crete.
Ottoman naval forces defeated a smaller Venetian blockade fleet near the Dardanelles, highlighting how control of the straits could determine reinforcement and supply of Crete.
Venice won a major naval engagement at the mouth of the Dardanelles, part of repeated attempts to blockade Ottoman routes into the Aegean and starve the siege lines at Candia.
A Venetian–Maltese fleet won a crushing victory in the Dardanelles, briefly tightening the blockade and sharply disrupting Ottoman communications and provisioning for Crete.
The Ottoman fleet defeated Venice near the Dardanelles and ended the most effective phase of the Venetian blockade strategy, easing Ottoman reinforcement of Crete.
Ottoman forces recaptured Lemnos from Venetian occupation, reversing a key Venetian position that had supported pressure on the Dardanelles sea lanes.
A renewed Ottoman offensive—personally overseen by Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed—opened the final, most intense phase of operations against Candia’s defenses.
After prolonged fighting and negotiations, the Venetian commander Francesco Morosini capitulated and the defenders evacuated; this ended centuries of Venetian rule over most of Crete and concluded the Cretan War (with Venice retaining a few offshore fortresses).
Cretan War (1645–1669)
