Chania will enchant almost everyone and richly rewards exploration with its web of side-streets, crumbling masonry and magnificent harbour. Here are some ideas for your walk around town:

The Inner Harbour - Lighthouse
Follow the sea wall round as far as the minaret style lighthouse for an excellent view of the city.

Venetian Arsenals
These 16th century arched buildings designed for shipbuilding and repairs are on to the quietest part of the harbour. There are relics of the Minoan town on Kasteli hill as well as ruins in Kanevaro street and Katre street.An outstanding complex has been dug up in the square of St Catherine in a joint Greek/Swedish project.

Halidon Street
Perhaps the most commercially touristic street in Chania, this street leads down to the harbour front. In a square on the right you will find Chania’s cathedral church of the Three Martyrs. It was built on the site of a soap factory, whose owner, the Mustapha Nily Pasha, when he became prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire, donated the soap factory and money to construct a church for the Christians of Chania. A little further down the road a Turkish hamam survives. Across from the cathedral is the catholic church in whose courtyard is the entrance to the Cretan Folk Museum. Right next door is the renovated church of St Francis, the most impressive Venetian church on Crete, consisting of a temple and two closed courtyards, and probably dates back to the 14th Century. Nowadays it houses Chania’s archaeological museum, well worth a visit to see the ceramics, inscribed tablets, glassware and mosaics recovered from local excavation work.

Stivanadika (leather street)
Just off the top of Halidon street this road is popular with the visitor for its huge array of leather goods and articles of Cretan folk art. You may find some of the craftsmen at work fashioning items such as leather sandals or the traditional Cretan boots.

Outer Harbour - Firkas
At the far end of the harbour is the Firkas fort which today houses the Naval Museum. The Firkas was a fortress residence and barracks in the times of Venetian occupation and later when the Turks invaded barracks and prison. On 1st December 1913 the Greek flag was raised there in celebration of the reunification of Crete with Greece.

Theotokopoulou Street
An attractive street leading down to the harbour where you’ll find Venetian mansions with strong oriental configurations from the times of Turkish occupation in addition to Neo-classical buildings. Look for the wooden balconies and latticed windows. This area has been called Tophanas since Turkish times when guns were stored in the area. It was a prosperous part of town and had been a neighbourhood of the Christian aristocrats. At the bottom, just before you reach the harbour you’ll see the temple of San Salvadore. This was formerly a monastery for Franciscan monks and now holds a collection of Byzantine art.

Zambeliou Street and Environs
A picturesque narrow street hosting examples of superb Venetian architecture. It twists and climbs parallel to the harbour with tiny lanes and steps taking you off into the past. One such alleyway leads to the Renier mansion and elegant gateway dated 1608. Inside is the private chapel of Renier. On the corner of Zambeliou/Portou is a Turkish hamam, now a taverna. Behind Zambeliou street is the former Jewish area. The Venetians forced them to live in one confined area. The central road is Kondilaki with its houses of famous Jews and former synagogue.