Old Venetian Harbour

The Venetian harbour of Chania turned into constructed through the Venetians among 1320 and 1356. The harbour turned into used for commerce and also to control the Sea of Crete in opposition to pirates. The Venetian harbour had room for 40 galleys, but it constantly silted up and was never very deep, so it kept having to be dredged, a hard activity with the equipment of the time. On its north aspect the harbour is blanketed by a breakwater. Near the center of this is a small bulwark like a gun emplacement and the tiny chapel of St Nicholas.

This was where the Venetians and Turks completed condemned prisoners. The Firkas Fortress on the harbour entrance and the St Nicholas bastion within the middle of the breakwater defended the harbour from raiders. Today, the Venetian harbour offers moorage for fishing boats and different small craft, at the same time as the industrial and passenger port of Chania is seven kilometres to the east, in Souda Bay. The lighthouse is a extraordinary feature of the harbour. It turned into constructed on the harbour entrance via the Venetians and restored in its gift shape by the Egyptians 1830-1840. The lighthouse of the Venetian harbour of Chania usually fascinates traffic and is one of the most-photographed monuments in Crete.