The history of the area starts as early as the Neolithic times. As excavations in various sites have shown it had flourished during the Minoan period, whereas during the Venetian domination of the island, it had played a very important role too. As it happens with the rest of the island, it had been the centre of numerous revolts during the Ottoman domination, as the independent character of Cretan people could not stand being under the yoke of any foreigner. During the World War II, following the tradition, the people had strongly resisted to the German occupation; it is characteristic that the village of Anoghia had been totally destroyed and all the male population was persecuted and, when found, executed by the Germans.
