Russian post offices in Crete

Russian Occupation of Crete (1898 – 1909) stamps

The island of Crete was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1669. After the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, some countries, including Russia, sent their troops to Crete. The island was divided into several sectors. The Russian part was assigned the city of Rethymnon, where the squadron battleship Sysoy Veliky was based, with its district.

All military administrations organized temporary postal services. The Russian post began functioning only from May 13 and worked until July 29, 1899. At first, postal services were carried out only within the sector, later it was allowed to deliver correspondence to Greece and Russia.

In 1913, Crete was reunited with Greece.

The monetary unit of the Russian post in Crete: 1 grosion = 1 Ottoman piastre = 4 metallica.

A simple letter cost two metallics, a registered letter and a telegram — three metallics, up to 5 newspapers in a parcel – one metallic.

The Russian post office of Crete used specially issued postage stamps. There are four editions of these stamps.

The circulation of Russian post stamps on the island of Crete was small – from 960 to 11 thousand pieces. There is a large number of forged and bogus stamps.