Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete rests about 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland, and about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Anatolia. Crete has an area of 8,450 km2 (3,260 sq mi) and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds the southern border of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south.
Chania, also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about 70 km (43 mi) west of Rethymno and 145 km (90 mi) west of Heraklion.
The Sea of Crete, or Cretan Sea, is a sea, part of the Aegean Sea, located in its southern extremity, with a total surface area of 45,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi). The sea stretches to the north of the island of Crete, east of the islands of Kythera and Antikythera, south of the Cyclades, and west of the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kassos. The bounding sea to the west is the Ionian Sea. To the northwest is the Myrtoan Sea, a subdivision of the Mediterranean Sea that lies between the Cyclades and Peloponnese. To the east-southeast is the rest of the Mediterranean Sea, sometimes credited as the Levantine Sea. Across the island of Crete, to the opposite shore of it begins the Libyan Sea. Ferry routes to and from Piraeus and Heraklion, as well as the southern islands of the Aegean and the Dodecanese, run in this area.
Akrotiri is a peninsula and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 112.644 km2 (43.492 sq mi). Its ancient name was Kiamon while the Byzantines called it Charaka. The largest town in the peninsula is Kounoupidiana. The beach at Stavros became famous because of the film Zorba the Greek.
Apokoronas is a municipality and a former province (επαρχία) in the Chania regional unit, north-west Crete, Greece. It is situated on the north coast of Crete, to the east of Chania itself. The seat of the municipality is the village Vryses. The municipality has an area of 315.478 km2 (121.807 sq mi).
Chania is one of the four regional units of Crete; it covers the westernmost quarter of the island. Its capital is the city of Chania. Chania borders only one other regional unit: that of Rethymno to the east. The western part of Crete is bounded to the north by the Cretan Sea, and to the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea. The regional unit also includes the southernmost island of Europe, Gavdos.
Kydonia or Cydonia was an ancient city-state on the northwest coast of the island of Crete. It is at the site of the modern-day Greek city of Chania. In legend Cydonia was founded by King Cydon (Κύδων), a son of Hermes or Apollo and of Akakallis, the daughter of King Minos. According to Pausanias he was son of king Tegeates.
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east. The bay is overlooked on both sides by hills, with a relatively low and narrow isthmus in the west near Chania.
Kissamos is a town and a municipality in the west of the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the Chania regional unit and of the former Kissamos Province which covers the northwest corner of the island. The town of Kissamos is also known as Kastelli Kissamou and often known simply as Kastelli after the Venetian castle that was there. It is now a port and fishing harbour, with a regular ferry from the Peloponnese via Kythira. A town museum is located in the old Venetian governor's palace and there have been important archaeological finds in the town, including fine mosaics, dating from the Roman city of Kisamos. The head town of the municipality is Kastelli-Kissamos itself.
Theriso is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 74.106 km2 (28.612 sq mi). It was part of the former Kydonia Province, which covered the central part of Chania Prefecture.
Chania International Airport "Daskalogiannis" is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away. It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing number of tourists. The airport is named after Daskalogiannis, a Cretan rebel against Ottoman rule in the 18th century and is a joint civil–military airport. It is the sixth busiest airport in Greece.
Maleme Airport is an airport situated at Maleme, Crete. It has two runways with no lights. The airport has closed for commercial aviation, but the Chania Aeroclub continues to use it.
The National Organization of Crete was a resistance organization established in the island of Crete with the cooperation and encouragement of British Intelligence during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II.
Gavdopoula is a Greek islet in the Libyan Sea, north-west of its larger neighbour Gavdos and to the south of Crete. It is part of the municipality of Gavdos in the regional unit of Chania, Crete, and was part of the former Selino Province.
Agioi Apostoloi is an unhabituated islet to the north of the western coast of Crete in the Aegean Sea. Administratively, it is within the municipality of Chania, in Chania regional unit.
Lazaretta, also called Lazaretto, is an uninhabited island close to the northern coast of Crete in the Aegean Sea. It is located near the city of Chania and administratively, it is within the municipality of Chania, in Chania regional unit.
Lazaretta is a popular destination for swimmers on sightseeing boats from Chania harbour.
The fortifications of Chania are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround the city of Chania in Crete, Greece. The inner city walls were first built in antiquity, and were rebuilt by the Byzantine Empire. The outer walls were built in the 16th century by the Republic of Venice. Some of the fortifications were demolished in the 20th century, but parts of both the Byzantine and Venetian walls remain intact.
The Assumption Cathedral also called Catholic Cathedral of Chania and alternatively Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is the Roman Catholic cathedral in Chania, on the island of Crete in Greece.
The Cretan revolt of 1878 was an insurrection of the Cretan people against the Ottoman occupation of the island. This insurrection is part of a larger movement for independence from the Ottoman Empire, which Crete was part of since the middle of the 17th century.