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On the northwest side of the Venetian harbor of Chania, the Venetians built the Revellino del Porto, a fortification project to protect the harbor.
Its construction began approximately in the middle of the 16th century and completed just a few years before the city has fallen under the Turkish occupation in 1645. In case of siege, a thick chain was closing the port from Firka to the base of the lighthouse on the other end of the port’s entrance.
The Venetians called the fortress Revellino while the Turks used it mainly as barracks, which in Turkish called firka. Inside the site was formed with appropriate buildings in barracks and warehouses of war material. It was also the seat of the military commander of the city. In the middle of the courtyard, there is a large vaulted pool that gathered the rainwater of the roofs.
The northern side of Revellino occupies the complex of six consecutive dome in which there were the large casemates, one in each dome, specially designed so that the gunfire covers the entrance to the harbor.
For over 5 centuries, the lighthouse of the old harbor of Chania stands proudly overseeing the area. The lighthouse has become a recognition landmark of Chania all over the world. Its history is connected with the history of the harbor. In 1212 AD the Venetians conquered all of Crete and they decided to build a new city on ancient Kydonia (present-day Chania).
The port is not all natural. Its construction begun between 1320 and 1356 BC and the work continued for the next 200 years. That is the reason why the lighthouse was constructed in a different form from today. From 1645 until 1830 Crete was under the Turkish occupation. They did not use the harbor of Chania but that of Souda. So over the years, the lighthouse started decaying because no one was looking after its maintenance.
In 1830 the English gave Crete to the Egyptians. Then a lot of public works took place. The lighthouse was repaired on its original base. But the new lighthouse is different from the old one; it looks more like a minaret. It has an internal staircase leading to a balcony with a glass turret. Recent researches that have taken place in order to replace the lighthouse, have shown that the base of the lighthouse, which is Venetian, is separated from the rest of the lighthouse by a wooden grille.
At the entrance of the harbor of Chania lies the Firka Fortress, built by the Venetians (1204-1669) to install the local guarding post.
Subsequently the Ottomans (1669-1898) used the fortress for the same purpose and settled the Division of Command. Since then, the name “Firka”, this in Ottoman Turkish means barracks, remains. Here, as of December 1, 1913, the Greek flag was raised proudly ratifying the annexation of Crete to Greece.
At the entrance of this Fortress is located the Naval Museum of Crete, which was founded to house and preserve our naval traditions and especially those from Crete, which were a source of national survival, progress and majesty of the country.
It is promoted by the Navy and operates with the impeccable service of the prefecture of Chania, the municipality of Chania and the Naval Shipyard of Crete.
The Panagia Trimartiri is considered as the protector of the city of Chania. The central aisle is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary (Isodia tis Theotokou), which is celebrated on November 21. The northern aisle is dedicated to St. Nicholas (Agios Nikolaos) and the southern aisle to the Three Cappadocian Fathers (Tris Ierarhes). The church is built on the site of an earlier church, which had reportedly existed here since the 14th century. Later, with the conquest of the city by the Turks, in 1645, the church was turned into a soap factory as it stood, with no alterations in the layout.
From there on, its history has been intertwined with local legends. According to tradition, the soap factory failed at some point and Mustafa Pasha, who was the Prime Minister of the time, ceded the building to the Christian community of the city. Legend has it that Mustafa Pasha made this decision when his child, who had fallen into a well nearby, was saved with the help of the Virgin Mary.
The construction of the church was complete in 1860, resulting in the building that we see today: a three-aisled basilica with an elevated middle aisle and numerous architectural elements of Venetian influence, such as carved square columns, cornices, etc. Then, the icon of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, which had been taken away by the last worker of the soap factory, was restored to the church.
The gorge of Samaria is situated in the National park of Samaria, in the White Mountains in West Crete. This majestuous gorge is considered one of the great attractions of Crete and is a must visit sight. It is a long (5 to 7 hours) walk on rough terrain so you will need to have a certain degree of fitness and walking experience in order to enjoy it.
White Mountains’ National Park is the only national park in Crete. It centers around the Samariá gorge, at an altitude of 1,200m and continues down to Ayia Rouméli, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding slopes and a number of smaller gorges branching off from it, Samaria Gorge forms the whole of the area designated as a national park, a status that offers protection to over 450 species of plant and animal, 70 of which are endemic to Crete. In the prefecture of Chania (also written “Hania”), the Samaria gorge is the longest in Europe (total length 16km), and one of the most impressive gorges in Greece.
It starts from Xylóskalo, at an altitude of 1,230m. The width of the gorge is 150m at its widest point and 3m at its narrowest.
