Chania is considered by many to be the most beautiful city of Greece. It is the second largest town of Crete after Heraklion. Fortunately, in Chania many Venetian and Ottoman monuments are preserved in the city, which makes it unique. The Old City and the Old Venetian Harbor remain almost intact, giving the city a special Venetian character. Thus, the visitors of Chania are attracted by the beauty of the picturesque narrow streets, the imposing lighthouse at the entrance of the small harbor and all the amazing monuments that make up the transcendent magic of Chania.
Chania is believed to be built on the site of the Minoan Kydonia, as shown by the excavations in Kastelli hill. Chania developed substantially in the Byzantine era, when it was fortified. Later, the Venetians turned the city into a great castle with strong walls, about which you can read here. After the Sultan Abdul Mezit visited Crete in 1850 and decided to construct a naval base in the gulf of Souda, the capital of Crete was moved from Heraklion to Chania (till 1971). After the liberation of Crete from the Turks in 1898 and during the Cretan State autonomy, great buildings were built in the city and the suburb of Halepa. The glory of Chania reached its peak during the hoisting of the Greek flag in the fortress of Firkas in 1913, marking the final Union of Crete with Greece, after centuries of slavery. Chania played also an important role in the outcome of the struggle against the Germans in World War II, as the nearby airport of Maleme was the epicenter of the glorious Battle of Crete. Chania was the last European city to be liberated from the Germans in April 1945.

Sights in the city of Chania are the Old Town, the Venetian harbor with the Egyptian Lighthouse, the Koutsouk Hasan Mosque, Koum Kapi's pedestrian street, Neoria, the Megalo Arsenali where the Mediterranean Architectural Center, the Central Market, the Kastelli hill with the old palace and the Minoan settlement, the picturesque Ottoman district of Splantzia, the church of Agios Roukos, the Metropolis, the Archaeological Museum of Chania, the beach of Nea Chora, the Maritime Museum of Crete at the Firka Fortress, the Prefectures and the Courts , the Tombs of Veniz the Eleftherios Venizelos house in Halepa, the Souda Allied Cemetery, the Historical Archive of Crete, etc.

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