Crete: A drive to Chania

On our second full day in Crete, my mum, my sister, and I drove to Chania. The agenda for the day was to briefly walk around the town and then find a beach somewhere nearby. The former was the easier part of the plan. We parked the car in the south and, after figuring out the parking payment system, walked north into the centre of town.

The eastern end of Chania’s historic centre contains the Ahmet Ağa Minaret and the bizarre Church of Saint Nicholas: converted into the mosque under the Ottomans and back again to a church after Greece achieved independence, the building has both a bell tower and a minaret. To the west of these sites lie the remnants of the town’s Byzantian fortifications as well as the Archaeological ruins of Minoan Kidonia – another site that dates to Europe’s oldest civilisation.

The Old Port of Chania is lined by picturesque terraced houses, practically every single one of which rises above a waterfront restaurant. On the eastern end of the port stands the intriguing Küçük Hasan Mosque. Its large central dome is supported by buttresses and is flanked on the western and northern side by four smaller domes each. Opposite the mosque, on the western side of the port, stands the Firka Venetian Fortress. Climbing to the top, I got a great view of Lighthouse of Khania, which towers above an outlet that almost seals off the harbour.

After eating ice cream, we finished our tour of the city. We followed a Jewish couple who had rung the doorbell to the historic Etz Hayyim Synagogue, taking a quick look inside the quaint building. While my mum and sister shopped around, I also peeked into the Presentation of the Virgin Mary Metropolitan Church. Driving around fifteen minutes eastward, we made a brief stop at the Venizelos Graves. This is where Eleftherios Venizelos, the father of modern Greece, lies buried along with his son Sophocles, three-time Prime Minister of the country.

As I hinted at the beginning, we had some trouble finding a beach for my mum and my sister to relax. Driving around the Akrotiri Peninsula, we found all the beaches teeming with beaches. After deciding to drive back to Rethymno instead, we happened upon a nice, secluded beach somewhere in between the two towns, and ate dinner at a local taverna.   

Ahmet Ağa Minaret
The tower of the Church of Agios Nikolaos
The minaret of the Church of Agios Nikolaos
The Archaeological ruins of Minoan Kidonia
Chania Lighthouse
Kucuk Hasan Mosque
The same
Chania Lighthouse
Inside the Firka Venetian Fortress
The same
The Chania Lighthouse as seen from the fortress
Another view of the fortress
Kucuk Hasan Mosque
The interior of Etz Hayyim Synagogue
Metropolitan Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary
Anagnostis Mantakas
The Old Hamam (Steambath)
The Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elias by the Venizelos Graves
Spyros Kayales Statue
The Venizelos Graves
The church again
The whole complex

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