Chania old town, mountains, restaurant Private Tour (group of 6)

The old town of Chania with the beautiful Venetian harbour is the heart of the city of Chania. We will walk around the narrow alleys and explore the history of the city.

Chania lighthouse is the oldest light house in the Mediterranean, built in 1864. The lighthouse is the main landmark of Chania. The tower is 21m high and is built on a stone base, located at the end of the old harbour's pier opposite to the fortress of Firkas. Visitors are not allowed to enter the lighthouse. Chania lighthouse was first constructed by the Venetians around 1600, destroyed in the siege of Chania and it took its final form, in the shape of a minaret, during the Egyptian occupation. It was restored in 1996.

The fortress of Firkas on the northwest side of the port of Chania was constructed between 1610 and 1645 to protect the Venetian harbour entrance from raiders. The fall of the city of Chania in the hands of the Turks in 1645, meant automatically that the fortress belonged to the new conquerors. That is when it got its current name, because “Firka” in Turkish means “barrack”. On the northern side of the Firka fortress were six consecutive domes, that sheltered the large cannons, so that they would face the entrance of the harbor and face any possible attacker. The Firka Fortress was used as a prison since then and up to the Greek civil war of the 20th century. During the Ottoman rule, the Firka Fortress constituted the seat of the military governor of the city. It is the place where the Greek flag was raised, in 1913, the year of the reunion of Crete with Greece. Today, at the entrance of the Fortress is situated the Maritime Museum.

The Orthodox Cathedral of Chania or church of Trimartiri is situated in Halidon street. The present temple was built on the place of an older church of Virgin Mary which dated back to the 14th century. In 1645, during the Ottoman occupation, the temple was converted into a soap factory , owned by the Turkish official Moustafa Pasha Giritli. The reconstruction of the church was completed in 1860 in the style of a three aisle Basilica, and was donated by the local pasha to the local community. On the northeast side of the temple there is the high bell-tower. The church features three aisles with the central one dedicated to the Virgin Mary (celebrated on November 21st), the north aisle one dedicated to Saint Nicholas and the southern one to the Three Hierarchs.

3 euro entrance fee per person. Etz Hayyim was converted into a Synagogue in the 17th century, when the Jewish community of Chania purchased the Church of St. Catherine, an empty 15th-century Venetian church. The synagogue, which suffered serious bombardment, was abandoned after the end of World War with the perishing of the Jewish community and reopened in 1999, with the support of the World Monument Fund (WMF), in co-operation with the Central Israeli Council of Greece. Nowdays the Etz Hayyim Synagogue is the only active synagogue that has survived on the island.

One of the first Ottoman buildings of the island is Mosque of Hasan Kucuk or Yali Tzamisi. The mosque was built in honour of Kioutsouk Hassan Pasha, the first Ottoman military commander of Chania, while the Yali Tzamisi name translates as "mosque of the sea". The building is an example of Islamic architecture Renaissance designed form an Armenian architect, dating from mid 17th century. The mosque operated as a mosque until 1923. It is a cubic building covered by a large dome supported by four stone arches, while the west and north side is surrounded by an arcade roofed with seven small domes. In the southwest corner there was a minaret from which saved only the base. Today the building operates as an exhibition for cultural events and visual art exhibitions.

Chania is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe. The Minoan civilisation dates before 3000BC and it somehow violently ended in 1250BC when there was a destructive earthquake and Tsunami. Many researches believe that the Minoan civilisation was destroyed after the eruption of Santorini volcano. At Kasteli hill archaeological excavations the foundations of buildings, streets and sewage networks can be seen. The excavations are ongoing. Kydonia was the name of Chania during the Minoan era.

Dounias restaurant is at Drakona Village on the foot of the White Mountains of Chania, 600m altitude. The traditional taverna is a centre of gastronomy and slow food. The owner Stelios Trilirakis uses locally produced ingredients and cooks on wood fire. You can see and take pictures. Almost everything comes from the family’s farm. Herbs such as oregano, rosemary, dictum, chamomile and many others are picked from nearby slopes of White Mountains, giving a special flavour to traditional dishes such as Greek salad, rabbit casseroles, lamb with honey, goat wrapped in cooking foil and meat dishes with pilaf rice. Its a 45-minute drive to the restaurant through the scenic Cretan countryside. The restaurant has nice views. Lunch is paid separately by travellers, its around 25 euro per person.

The Gorge of Theriso is located near the city of Chania. The main gorge is six kilometers long and we will go through it by our minivan. The vertical cliffs are impressive and the lush vegetation along with its wildlife is truly a site to see.

The drive inside Therisso gorge is amazing, with vertical rock cliffs and goats roaming around. Nature is lush, with plane trees and other plants hanging from the cliffs. As we go higher, the scenery and nature will change to a more dry, with cypress trees and medicinal herbs. Theriso village is built at the foot of the White Mountains at an altitude of 580 meters, has a nice small square and a 15-century church.