The Ottomans and Turks Agia Sofia, Constantinople, during the Ottoman period. Thessaloniki, in 1430, was the first notable Ottoman conquest in Greece. Piece by piece, the Ottomans took control over every island and mainland region, culminating in the capture of Crete in 1669. The effect of Moslem rule over Greece's vineyards was predictably deleterious, less the result of religious-mandated temperance than the double-edged sword of taxation. While vineyards were largely encouraged for their fiscal potential during the early phases of Ottoman rule, arbitrary and excessive taxation gradually sapped the incentive of the Greek peasantry to tend them. Even the monasteries, which benefited from some tax relief under the Ottomans, were forced to remand properties in distant jurisdictions. While the trade in Malvasia continued throughout the Ottoman period, and certain regions and islands, such as Samos, thrived with a relative prosperity resulting from the beneficence of Ottoman patrons, wine fell increasingly victim to the more pressing economic and political problems facing the Greek populace.