Chania (Greek: Χανιά, Khaniá, pronounced [xaˈɲa] ), also sometimes romanized as 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 municipality has 111,375 inhabitants (2021). This consists of the city of Chania and several nearby areas, including Kounoupidiana, Mournies, Souda, Nerokouros, Daratsos, Perivolia, Galatas and Aroni.
Souda (Greek: Σούδα) is a town 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 22.007 km (8.497 sq mi). It is an important ferry and naval port at the head of Souda Bay.
Souda is 6.5 kilometres (4.0 miles) to the east of central Chania, although the area in between is mostly built-up. The town is a relatively new settlement, built on what used to be salt beds and marshland. The Turks knew the area as 'Tuzla', their name for salt-beds. In the 1870s, they began to build a new settlement here which grew as the port expanded. Souda Bay is one of the deepest natural harbours in the Mediterranean and is easy to defend.
Mycenaean Greek is the earliest attested form of the Greek language. It was spoken on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC). The language is preserved in inscriptions in Linear B, a script first attested on Crete before the 14th century BC. Most inscriptions are on clay tablets found in Knossos, in central Crete, as well as in Pylos, in the southwest of the Peloponnese. Other tablets have been found at Mycenae itself, Tiryns and Thebes and at Chania, in Western Crete. The language is named after Mycenae, one of the major centres of Mycenaean Greece.
The tablets long remained undeciphered, and many languages were suggested for them, until Michael Ventris, building on the extensive work of Alice Kober, deciphered the script in 1952.
Kydonia (/sɪˈdoʊniə/ or /kaɪˈdoʊniə/), also known as Cydonia (Ancient Greek: Κυδωνία, Kydōnía) was an ancient city located at the site of present-day Chania near the west end of the island of Crete in Greece. The city is known from archaeological remains dating back to the Minoan era as well as literary and historical sources. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025.
The Pact of Halepa (Greek: Σύμβαση της Χαλέπας) or Halepa Charter (Χάρτης της Χαλέπας) was an agreement made in 1878 between the Ottoman Empire (then ruled by the Sultan Abdul Hamid II) and the representatives of the Cretan Revolutionary Committee, which secured wide-ranging autonomy for the island of Crete. It was named after the place where it was signed, Halepa (now a district of Chania).
Chania (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Χανίων), also spelled Hania, 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 (part of the Aegean Sea) and to the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea and Libyan Sea. The regional unit also includes the southernmost island of Europe, Gavdos.
Kounoupidiana is a village in Crete, Greece, part of the municipal unit of Akrotiri and the largest town on that peninsula with a population of 9,213 (in 2021). It is 8 km northeast of the city of Chania and has become a popular place to live in recent years because of its healthy climate, the nearby Technical University of Crete and close proximity to Chania International Airport and the beaches of Kalathas and Stavros.
European route E65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chania, Greece. The road is about 4,400 km (2,700 mi) in length. After crossing the Baltic Sea, it proceeds on land from north to south through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and North Macedonia.
Maleme Airport (Greek: Αεροδρόμιο Μάλεμε) is an airport situated between Maleme and Tavronitis, Crete. It has two runways (13/31 and 03/21) with no lights. The airport has closed for commercial aviation, but the Chania Aeroclub continues to use it. The airport operated until 1959 as the main public airport of Chania. Up until 2012 the Hellenic Air Force made limited use of the facility.
Originally known as Maleme Airfield, it was an RAF base in World War II until captured by German parachutists and mountain troops landing there in May 1941 as part of the Battle of Crete.