Agios Nikolaos is the capital of the Prefecture of Lassithi in Crete. The area of Agios Nikolaos was inhabited in antiquity, when it was called Kamara. During the Venetian period it had a castle, also known as Mirabello Castle, but the settlement was deserted during the Ottoman era, to begin to be inhabited again in the 19th century. The name of the city came from the Byzantine church located in the bay of Agios Nikolaos.