Chania [greek: Χανιά; turkish: Hanya], was already inhabited by the Minoans and the Greek called it Kydonia, it lies about 100 km west of the capital of Crete Heraklion and about 300 km south of Athens across the Aegean sea. It is the 9th largest city in Greece and the 2nd largest on Crete.
Population: 108.000 [2011] | 54.000 [1991] | 26.000 [1928] | 20.000 [1900]
Chania is the major city in western Crete, including a large ferry port and an international airport. The Kydonians were mentioned twice in Homer’s Odyssey. During its history the city belonged to the (often together with all of Crete) Minoans, Ancient Greek, Byzantines, Saracens, Venetians, Genoese, Osmans and modern Greek. It was mainly the Venetians and later the Osmans that developed the city, created its harbour and made it an important centre for commerce and administration. For more than 300 years (1651-1971) the city became the capital of Crete.
Our panorama depicts the eastern side of Chania’s old venetian harbour, which was created in the 13th century. In the background we can still see the old byzantine walls that surrounded ancient Kydonia and which is now the city quarter Kasteli. The main feature here is the former Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque, built by the Osmans after conquering the city in 1645. Its minaret was torn down in 1920 and today it houses a public gallery. The old town of Chania is still defined by its old venetian and osman architecture and the centre of the city is a protected historical monument – the reason for it being the most popular cretan harbour with tourists.
Click for larger view:
For classic view and more infos about the place:
We documented more streets and places in Chania. Below you can see a preview of a backside view of the old venetian shipyards (Megalo Arsenali) from Kallergon street.
And here is also a preview of the south and west front of the venetian harbour of Chania.
For more streetlines of Greece visit our archive.