Chania Old Town Revisited

On the 14th and 15th days, we took the bus to Chania again to explore the city center on foot. We walked from the bus station to the old town. The part of the old town to the east of the Venetian Harbour is in a better condition than the rest. It is also the most touristic part of it. The westernmost and the southernmost parts of it are home to a lot of local people and some parts of them are looked quite poor.

This image was taken in the easternmost part close to the Venetian Harbour. I waited until there were no tourists on the street. At this time of day, which was early afternoon, most tourists were at the beach. These streets would be packed after about 6 pm.

This is a Turkish bath the Ottomans who conquered the island in 1699 had built. They also converted all the major churches into mosques. The Turkish occupation was worse than the Roman or the Venetian periods. The Ottomans persecuted the clergy and intellectuals and they dealt with any rebellions in a brutal manner. The Nazi occupation was quite brutal, too, but it only lasted four years whereas the Turkish occupied Crete for over 200 years. Incidentally, because of the extremely heavy casualties suffered by the Wermacht, the conquest of Crete was the last major operation where paratroopers played a significant role. The casualties can be attributed to the exceptionally fierce local resistance.

The facade was the only thing left of some buildings. There were not too many of such buildings. A waiter at a restaurant thought that it wasn't too easy to get a permit to renovate the old buildings all of which were protected.

Most of these doors belonged to small hotels or family homes.

Street life

Wake up and smell the ... plants.

One of the narrow streets in the eastern part of the old town. The shadowy streets provided excellent protection from the fierce midday sun.

The family went back to the hotel while I remained in town to shoot some more pictures.

These are the shipyards built by the Venetians in the Old Harbour.

You can see a mosque built by the Ottomans in the centre left.