HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

OF THE CITY OF CHANIA

Tour of the Monuments

Archaeological area of Kastelli (Kanevaro)

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The settlement excavated in the city of Chania, centered on Kasteli hill, is the most important in the prefecture. Large houses with well-built rooms, well-kept floors with circular pits – hearths, walls plastered with deep red mortar, regular doorways and ceramic products of excellent quality indicate that this is a major Proto-Minoan centre.

This settlement is the most important in western Crete.
Its location is ideal, because not only is it adjacent to the sea, but it is also surrounded by the rich plain of Chania, thus meeting all the conditions for the development of both agriculture and fishing and maritime trade. This was confirmed by the extensive excavations that began in 1964 in the square of Saint Aikaterini and continue to this day, always with many difficulties, limited to the few free spaces of the densely populated area.

The hill was continuously inhabited from Proto-Minoan times to the present day, with the result that the excavated layers are very numerous and often very thin in thickness, which creates insurmountable difficulties in their dating and identification, so that the excavations in this area are considered among the most difficult of their kind.

During the following Middle Minoan period (first half of the second millennium BC), the settlement of Chania developed into a dynamic center. It is the period in which the first palatial facilities appear in Crete. While the economy remains agricultural, trade and shipping are developing at the same time. Trading posts are established outside the island and colonies are established. Such a relationship connects Crete with the nearby island of Kythira. The similarity of the pottery from Kasteli and Kastri of Kythira is characteristic. The Chanio ceramic workshop produces products that follow the rhythms of central Crete (dark on light, light on dark, rough rhythm, chamber rhythm), while there is no shortage of ceramics imported from the rest of Crete.

Unfortunately, the Middle Minoan building phases of the Kastelli settlement have been destroyed by the extensive building activity in the immediately following periods and very few remains have survived.
Building remains of both the Proto-Minoan and Middle-Minoan times that have been identified in various places in the current center of the city of Chania (Municipal Market area and further east) perhaps indicate a modular structure of the prehistoric settlement, while its center always remains the hill at the Old Port.

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Relative Posts

The headquarters Venizelos / Therisos Movement Headquarters

So called the headquarters of the Revolutionary Assembly in 1905, in Therisos, which organized the homonymous revolution against the authoritarian rule of the High Commissioner George. Nowadays, the building has been converted into a museum for the exposition of weapons, objects from that period and evidence of the revolutionary action of Eleftherios Venizelos.

The Garden Clock

The Clock stands on the north-eastern side of the Garden and is one of the most characteristic recent monuments of the city. It was built in the period 1924-1927 to plans by D. Kollarou, has a tripartite structure and its roof is formed into a circular pavilion. Today it is inextricably linked to the historical route of the Garden and is a symbol and an integral part of it.

Venizelio Conservatory

The Venizelio Conservatory of Chania is located on Nikiforo Fokas Street and is housed in a privately owned neoclassical building founded in 1931 at the expense of Elena Venizelou. It has a theater hall, with a stage and a balcony, with a capacity of about 300 seats and belongs to the “Association for the dissemination of Fine Arts in Crete”. Today it hosts DI.PE.THE. of Crete and the mixed Choir of Chania.