Location: The Old Venetian Harbour Of Chania

Chania is located on the north coast in western Crete and is the capital of the Chania Prefecture. It was first settled by Minoans with the name KYDONIA – CYDONIA. The harbor was built by the Venetians during their colonization in Crete and specifically between 1320 and 1356. It was an important center, serving the Venetian military ships, as well as one of the most important commercial ports of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

In the 16th century, due to a perceived Turkish threat, the harbor was included to the new fortification plans of the city of Chania. A fort constructed next to the entrance of the harbor and enhanced with bastions even on the breakwater. Today, the old town of Chania preserves deeply the signs since Crete was a colony of the Venetians (1252-1645), with the necessary additions of the subsequent years of Crete’s conquest by the Ottoman Turks (1645-1898), as well as the less visible but existing signs of the Egyptian domination (1831-1841) that occurred during the Ottoman rule.

Today The Prefecture of Chania is considered the greenest area in Crete as the mountains White Mountains are responsible for the increased rainfall compared to the rest of Crete.The prefecture of Chania combines many beautiful beaches , small fertile plains , high mountains and deep gorges , like Samaria Gorge .
The Venetian harbor with its lighthouse and the old city center have given in Chania the reputation of the most picturesque town in Crete, which hosts thousands of visitors every year.