Sunday May 11 was a bright sunny day. The high was 20C. We had breakfast and did some laundry at the apartment. We then decided to go for a coffee at Kross, a coffee shop very near to where we were meeting our Free Tour at 3:00 p.m.
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| Our apartment building. We have the large rectangular deck on the first floor near the front of the picture. |
On the way, we passed the large municipal market that is being totally renovated. It will be very nice when finished. It is located in the "heart" of the city. Construction started in 1908 and was completed in 1913, the year when Crete was reunited with Greece.
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| Municipal Market under renovation- one side |
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| The other side of the market building |
We had coffee at Kross, a very nice spot. I have been enjoying freddo espresso (cold espresso), which is perfect for warm weather. Most Greek people mix in sugar with the espresso and ice, but I prefer mine without sugar.
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| At Kross- I had freddo espresso and Allan had a flat white. |
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| The inside of Kross coffee shop |
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| Lovely street where we were meeting our tour. |
Our Free Tour guide was Luca, who is a historian, from Palermo. He fell in love with Crete and moved here last year. There were only five other people on the tour. The group of five were travelling together from Ypres, Belgium. Luca took us to a very interesting part of the Old Town, away from the tourist shops. He outlined the history of Crete and then showed us many examples of the Venetian and Ottoman architecture that are part of the fabric of Chania.
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| Minaret in the background |
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| Venetian style home |
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St. Ekaterini's Church dates back to the second half of the 16th century. Its construction points to Late Gothic forms. Under Ottoman rule, it was used as a bakery and an engineering workshop.
It was restored in the 1980s. |
We stopped at the St. Nicolas Church on Splantzia Square. It was built around 1320 by the Venetians and was originally a Catholic Church. Under Ottoman rule, it was converted into the city's central mosque, the Hünkâr Mosque (Sovereign's Mosque). Splantzia become the Muslim quarter of the town A minaret with two balconies was erected. A sacred sword of the Turkish Dervish, who first entered the city was kept at St. Nicholas until the exchange of Muslim and Christian populations in 1923. The Mosque was converted to a Greek Orthodox Church in 1918.
Our guide told us about the agreement signed in January 1923 by the governments of Greece and Turkey to "exchange populations" to make the countries more homogeneous. The "exchange" involved at least 1.6 million people (about 1.2 million Greek Orthodox living in Turkey and 355,000-400,000 Muslims from Greece) most of whom were forcibly made refugees and de jure denaturalized from their homelands.
It is the only building in Greece to possess both a bell tower and a minaret.
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| Church of Saint Nicolas |
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| Grand Arsenal building |
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| Newer architecture on top of older structures |
We passed by the Monastery Boutique Hotel located where the Venetian monastery of the Virgin of Miracles sat in the early 17th century. The surviving historic building was renovated with a lot of attention to detail.
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| Monastery Boutique Hotel-entance through the arch. Fabulous restoration |
We stopped at the site of a large Greek-Swedish Excavation in Haghia Aikaterini Square. The site was part of a Minoan settlement that was destroyed in a big conflagration c. 1450 (Late Minoan). After the destruction, people returned and settled in part of the ruins and some new houses were erected. These perished in a later fire.
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| The Greek-Swedish Excavations - a well protected site with clear signage of the history of the area |
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| More Venetian ruins |
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| The flowers are gorgeous- many buildings have flowering plants-- this was the largest we saw. |
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| Beautiful Ottoman balconies--- this building is a hotel now |
We walked up some steep stairs to the top of part of the Venetian wall.
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| Allan with the view |
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| We walked back to sea level-lighthouse view |
Our tour ended at around 5:00 p.m. It more than met our expectations. Luca was very knowledgable about the historic site and the history of Crete. He also gave us an insight of present day Chania politics.
We wandered down a few streets with some interesting shops and then decided to have a gelato at Domenico, which had been recommended. They make your gelato right in front of you. We ordered Vegan Domenico which had a Coconut milk base, with Dark Chocolate and strawberry.
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| Handcrafted gelato |
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| He pours coconut milk, chopped strawberries and chocolate on the surface and then mushes them. He then flattens the combination and cuts them into rolls. Amazing! |
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| Our rolled handmade gelato |
After our gelato, we went and sat on a bench on the harbour. We had made a 7:00 p.m. reservation for dinner at a nearby restaurant. A number of people came for a tour in one of the glass bottom boats in the harbour.
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| Sitting by the Venetian harbour |
We went to Tamam for dinner. We had reserved an outdoor table, which was great. There were also two indoor sections. The restaurant filled up and by the time we left at around 8:30 p.m., there was a lineup.
Tamam was founded in 1982 and is housed in a 1400 building that the Venetians operated as a public bathhouse. After the Turks invaded in 1645, it was operated as a Hamam (Turkish steam bath) until the Turks left Crete. When the current owners took over the building, they named it "Tamam" which is similar to Hamam and also means "all good" in Arabic. They feature traditional food served at Greek Sunday meals. They also use top quality local products.
We shared a wonderful fresh Greek salad, bread with a black olive tempenade, and a plate of lamb chops. We each had a glass of a very nice local red wine.
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| We finally had a wonderful Greek salad with sheep milk feta- the tomatoes were very juicy |
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| We had a craving for lambchops-- so tasty |
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| Dessert and a small carafe of raki provided by the restaurant at the end of a meal |
We walked back to the apartment. It was a great day. We have a much better understanding of Chania. The mix of Ottoman and Venetian architecture in the residential area we toured was incredible. Minoan ruins too, all within a relatively small section of the Old Town. All very easily walkable from our apartment.
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