History of Chania Town

According to Cretan mythology, Chania, the most poetic and romantic Mediterranean town, is Kidonas’s "child" – Hermes’s son- who, as the travellers’ protector, bequeathed to its inhabitants, generously, the charisma of cordial hospitality.

One of the most remarkable advantages of our town lies in the harmonized combination of the old element with the modern one. The town comprises two parts: the modern town with the wonderful urban planning, an easy road net, buildings of monumental architecture, magnificent and contemporary squares, and the old town, structured by the Mechanic Veronezo Miche le Sanmichelli (1538). The old town, which "embraces" the Venetian Port of Chania, is full of cultural remnants, diffused in the front of the buildings, castles, walls, ancient monuments, monasteries and churches in narrow picturesque roads, betraying the sound evidence of the many different conquerors’ stay and declaring it as a placement of historically scheduled buildings until today.

Elements bequeathed by the Arabs’ Byzantines’, Venetians’ and Turks’ different cultures, such as the Venetian spiritualism, the Turkish plainness, the classic richness, the medieval beauty, the contemporary pomp and circumstance, the severe architectural style, are completely wedded, composing a marvellous "cultural mosaic" of our town. The specific cultural elegance has the ability to captivate and excite visitors’ mind with the very first glance in every corner of our town, activating a mixture of diverse emotions, great excitements and a sense of nobility.