The 12th International Congress of Cretan Studies (12th ICCS) was held in Heraklion from 21 to 25 September 2016 and was organised by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies. The Congress was divided into three parallel sections corresponding to Antiquity, the Medieval period and the Modern period, along the thematic axis of mobility of people, ideas, and goods, to, from and within the island of Crete. A total of 319 original presentations was made by Greek and foreign scholars specialising in a variety of disciplines. The languages of the Congress were Greek, English, French, German and Italian.

The Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Cretan Studies are published online by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies with the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The papers are being uploaded gradually following a review, editing and formatting process.

Since its establishment by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies (SCHS) in 1961, the International Congress of Cretan Studies has been held every five years in the capital of each of the four Prefectures of Crete in turn. The International Congresses of Cretan Studies has been a platform for important presentations on archaeology, history, literature, ethnology, linguistics and other fields and their Proceedings continue to play a vital role in the study of Cretan history and culture.