MSFS scenery

MSFS Heraklion City, Crete Photogrammetry Scenery

Name: Heraklion City, Crete Photogrammetry Scenery
Author: keinowaara

Heraklion’s harbor, Venetian fortress and Minoan surroundings anchor Google Maps-derived photogrammetry coverage of Crete’s capital in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. LOD 17–19 detail supports coastal and inland VFR sightseeing, while color and brightness adjustments, terraforming and water-elevation corrections help integrate the city with surrounding terrain, balancing visual definition, performance and package size.

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Rate 2.01 GB Scanned clean · Oct 2026 Added today

By keinowaara · 2 add-ons

Greece

Flight Simulator 2024 Flight Simulator 2020

Images & Screenshots

60 total

Three large ferries sit alongside harbor quays, with dockside cranes, a dense coastal city, and hills beyond.

A dense coastal city surrounds a curving highway, with harbor breakwaters and an airport runway visible beside the sea.

A dense coastal city surrounds a harbor with docked ships and breakwaters, while an airport runway lies beside the shoreline.

An aerial view shows dense coastal buildings, a curving highway, agricultural plots, and a shoreline stadium beside blue water.

A dense coastal city stretches inland beneath dark clouds, with a waterfront stadium, running tracks, and curving highways visible from above.

A dense coastal city stretches inland beneath hazy hills, with a waterfront stadium, harbor, airport runway, and intersecting highways.

A dense coastal city surrounds a harbor with docked ships, a breakwater, and a marina, while an airport borders distant hills.

A dense coastal city stretches around a curving highway, with a harbor and offshore island beneath an overcast sky.

A dense coastal city borders a curving bay, with a small marina, inland mountains, and dark clouds contrasting with sunlit areas.

An aerial view shows a dense coastal city with a waterfront stadium, harbor breakwaters, winding highways, and hills beneath an overcast sky.

A dense coastal city stretches inland toward low mountains, with waterfront roads, a curved bay, and sports courts among tightly packed buildings.

A dense coastal city surrounds a harbor with docked ferries, while an airport runway lies beneath dark clouds near the shoreline.

A coastal city stretches toward distant hills, with a waterfront stadium, red running track, swimming pool, and bridges in the foreground.

A dense coastal city stretches along a curving shoreline, with waterfront stadiums, inland mountains, and dark clouds contrasting with sunlit water.

A dense coastal city surrounds a green sports field and stone fortifications, with a harbor and offshore island beyond.

A dense coastal city stretches along a curved waterfront, with a boat-filled marina, shoreline roads, and mountains rising inland.

Dense city blocks line a curved waterfront, with winding roads, scattered green spaces, and mountains beneath a golden sky.

A dense coastal city stretches beneath towering clouds, with highways, a waterfront stadium, harbor breakwaters, and rain curtains offshore.

A dense coastal city borders a harbor with docked ships, container yards, and a long breakwater beneath distant mountains.

An aerial view shows a dense coastal city with stone fortifications, a green sports field, harbor docks, and distant hills.

An aerial view overlooks a boat-filled marina, a large docked ship, and dense waterfront buildings extending toward distant hills.

A coastal airport has a long runway, branching taxiways, and scattered buildings beside rocky shoreline, with a city and mountains beyond.

A dense coastal city stretches beneath towering clouds, with rain shafts and a faint rainbow visible over the sea.

A coastal stadium contains a green playing field and red running track, with dense neighborhoods and curving roads bordering the shoreline.

An aerial view shows dense buildings and winding roads surrounding a reddish plateau, with low clouds obscuring distant mountain ridges.

A highway crosses orchards and neighborhoods toward a coastal city, with blue tennis courts, harbor ships, and an offshore island visible.

A coastal town stretches along a curved beach, with dense buildings, winding roads, swimming pools, and rocky hills inland.

A coastal city surrounds a harbor with docked ships, cargo cranes, and broad quays beneath dark clouds and patches of sunlight.

A dense coastal city borders a broad bay, with waterfront roads, an oval stadium, and fortified walls visible beneath hazy skies.

A large stadium with a running track sits beside a beach, with dense city buildings extending inland beneath towering clouds.

A coastal city spreads along a curving waterfront road, with two stadiums, dense buildings, and a long breakwater bordering the bay.

A coastal airport runway borders dense urban blocks and a harbor, with an offshore island visible beneath overcast skies.

A divided highway curves through a coastal city of low-rise buildings, with an offshore island beneath layered gray clouds.

A coastal city surrounds a harbor with container yards and cranes, while an airport runway extends beneath storm clouds and a faint rainbow.

Large ferries sit moored at concrete harbor piers, with dense city buildings and distant mountains beneath a clear blue sky.

An aerial view overlooks a coastal harbor with docked ferries, cargo cranes, container yards, and dense urban buildings along the waterfront.

A coastal city surrounds a harbor with docked ferries, a marina, and a long breakwater beneath cloud-covered mountains and golden skies.

A dense coastal city borders a harbor with docked ferries, waterfront roads, and distant mountains beneath a cloudy, golden sky.

A coastal city borders blue water, with harbor cranes, docked ships, long breakwaters, and mountains beneath a clear sky.

A dense coastal city borders a curved bay, with a waterfront road, green sports field, and mountains beneath golden clouds.

A coastal harbor contains docked ferries, a green-decked cargo ship, quay cranes, and a long breakwater beneath hazy sunlight.

Cargo ships sit beside dockside cranes in a coastal harbor, with sunlit water, dense waterfront buildings, and dark clouds overhead.

Runway 27 extends along a rocky coastline, with an aircraft near its threshold and urban development beneath distant mountains.

A rainbow appears beneath heavy clouds above a dense coastal city, with a curving waterfront road and ships in the harbor.

A coastal city glows at night with illuminated roads, dense neighborhoods, and a waterfront stadium beside an athletics track.

A coastal city stretches beside a harbor with cranes and breakwaters, beneath towering clouds and rain showers over the sea.

A nighttime aerial view shows a coastal city with illuminated streets, large industrial buildings, and dark water beyond the shoreline.

A dense coastal city stretches beneath towering clouds, with a rainbow to the left and fortified walls beside waterfront roads.

Three large ferries sit in a harbor beside cranes and hillside buildings, while a rainbow arcs across the cloudy sky.

A rainbow arcs above a coastal harbor with colorful shipping containers, concrete quays, docked vessels, and buildings spreading across nearby hills.

A rainbow appears beneath thick clouds over a coastal city, with dense buildings, a waterfront road, and a curved seaside plaza.

A rainbow arcs over a coastal city and harbor with docked ferries, a small-boat marina, and long stone breakwaters.

A coastal city stretches along dark water at night, with illuminated waterfront roads, dense buildings, and a floodlit stadium.

An aerial nighttime view shows a coastal stadium beside a floodlit running track, with illuminated streets extending through surrounding neighborhoods.

A coastal airport borders illuminated neighborhoods at night, with blue taxiway lights, parked aircraft, waterfront roads, and dark mountains beyond.

A coastal city borders dark water beneath heavy clouds, with a faint rainbow above waterfront roads and a long rocky breakwater.

Dark storm clouds and a dense rain curtain loom over a coastal town with low buildings, palm trees, and distant mountains.

A coastal airport’s illuminated runway stretches beside dark water at night, with harbor docks, city buildings, and streetlights in the foreground.

A coastal city stretches along a dark shoreline at night, with illuminated waterfront roads, boat-filled marinas, and angular harbor breakwaters.

Dense beige haze obscures a coastal city, where tightly spaced low-rise buildings and gridded streets extend toward the shoreline.

Editor reviewed · Tested in-sim

Expert Overview

I flew out of Nikos Kazantzakis Airport in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and followed the waterfront, where the Venetian fortress gave me a clear focal point for a sightseeing circuit. Keinowaara’s Google Maps-derived photogrammetry covers Heraklion rather than all of Crete, with Knossos near its southeastern edge. I found the coastal development and rising inland terrain an appealing contrast from the cockpit.

The scenery uses LOD 17–19 detail, with color and brightness adjustments intended to bring the city closer to the surrounding default landscape. Terraforming and water-elevation corrections tackle local mismatches, though some imperfections remain. Coverage boundaries are still visible despite those adjustments. I treated it as a focused city sightseeing package, rather than a replacement for the island’s wider scenery.

Keinowaara’s freeware Heraklion City photogrammetry scenery brings Google Maps-based coverage of Crete’s capital to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Explore the harbor, the city’s Minoan surroundings and the transition from coastal development to rugged inland terrain, with detail levels chosen to balance visual quality, performance and package size.

Heraklion’s Harbor and Minoan Surroundings

Heraklion sits on Crete’s northern coast and ranks among Greece’s largest cities, with the developer citing a population of just under 140,000. Its waterfront offers a useful focus for VFR (visual flight rules) sightseeing: an old Venetian fortress guards the harbor entrance, while the remains of Knossos lie near the southeastern corner of the add-on’s coverage. This ancient Minoan settlement counts among Europe’s oldest urban sites.

Beyond the city, rolling hills and gorges give way to Crete’s mountainous interior. Nearby Nikos Kazantzakis Airport provides a convenient departure point for exploring the scenery; from there, you can follow the coastline toward other towns and airports or head north over the Aegean Sea toward its many islands. The package covers the Heraklion area rather than the whole of Crete.

Photogrammetry Detail and Terrain Adjustments

Keinowaara uses LOD 17–19 (level of detail) for the Google Maps-derived scenery, aiming for a practical compromise between definition, simulator performance and download size. The developer also adjusts color and brightness to bring the imported city closer to the default terrain’s brownish, heavily saturated appearance.

Nevertheless, the coverage boundaries remain visible, so do not expect a seamless transition into the surrounding default scenery. Terraforming and water-elevation corrections address local terrain and water-level mismatches, although the developer notes that some imperfections remain.

Installing the Four Heraklion Scenery Folders

The supplied installation instructions specify the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Community folder. Extract the downloaded archive, then copy all four of the following folders into that location:

keinowaara-heraklion-part1
keinowaara-heraklion-part2
keinowaara-heraklion-part3
keinowaara-heraklion-part4

Keinowaara offers the scenery as freeware and welcomes optional donations to support the time involved in its development, along with comments and other feedback.

Ready to download Heraklion City, Crete Photogrammetry Scenery?

Free for all simmers · 2.01 GB · Scanned clean Oct 2026

File information

Filename

heraklion-heinowaara.zip

File size

2.01 GB

Added

18 October 2026

Virus scan

Clean ClamAV · Oct 2026

Access

Freeware

Content rating

Everyone

Download speed: Free tier is capped at 2 Mbps (this file takes approximately 2h 24m at the cap). PRO members download at full line speed.

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How to install this mod

MSFS scenery

Extract the downloaded archive

Use 7-Zip (free) or WinRAR to extract the ZIP to a temporary folder. Don't install while still zipped — the simulator can't read inside ZIP files.
Locate your MSFS Community folder

All MSFS add-ons live in the Community folder. Microsoft Store / Game Pass version: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Community\. Steam version: %APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Community\. Tip: enable Developer Mode in MSFS to see your exact Community folder path.
Copy the scenery package into Community

Drag the extracted scenery folder into your Community folder. Photogrammetry and large mesh packs can be 1GB+ — ensure you have disk space.
Restart MSFS

Close MSFS completely and relaunch. The new content appears in the Content Manager, on the World Map, or in the aircraft/livery selector.
Always read the included readme

Every mod ships with a readme.txt or README file. It tells you exactly where files go, what dependencies are needed, and any quirks specific to this add-on.

Finding the scenery

Use these coordinates to fly directly to this location once the mod is installed.

MSFS format (paste into search bar)

35.33870000,25.14420000

Decimal degrees

35.338700°, 25.144200°

Degrees, minutes, seconds

35° 20' 19.320" N 25° 08' 39.120" E

Paste these coordinates into the Microsoft Flight Simulator search bar when planning a flight, or into the Developer Mode Teleport window, to fly directly to this location.

Freeware developer

keinowaara

2 add-ons 178 downloads On Fly Away since 2026 Message keinowaara

Keinowaara is a freeware scenery developer for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, best known for photogrammetry city scenery across Finland and the wider Nordic region. Their add-ons replace generic autogen with real-world 3D buildings and street layouts, giving VFR pilots accurate towns and cities where the default MSFS 2024 scenery is generic or out of date.

The catalogue is strongest in Finland, with Tampere, Turku and Oulu alongside detailed Helsinki districts (Pasila, Kalasatama and Merihaka) and the Vantaa suburbs of Tikkurila, Sotunki, Martinlaakso and Myyrmäki near Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (EFHK). Coverage extends to Göteborg and Uppsala in Sweden, Bodø in Norway, Dublin in Ireland and Winchester in the UK.

Keinowaara also produces a series of lightweight "high trees removal" fixes for northern Norway, covering Troms, Senja, Ofoten, Lofoten and Vesterålen. These remove the trees MSFS 2024 wrongly places on bare mountain peaks, restoring the correct look of the Arctic terrain.

All Keinowaara scenery is free to download and installs by dropping the folder into your MSFS 2024 Community folder.