Chania; Tuesday, 28 July, 2020

I had a bit of lie-in and a late breakfast before heading out of the hotel. First stop of the morning was on the opposite side of the road in the old market. This was originally built to house the town’s market stalls, but today its mostly just tourist stalls. From the market I walked up hill slightly to the line of the Byzantine walls, that form an even smaller old town inside the later Venetian walls. I followed the walls round a bit and then headed into the centre of the area and the Kastélli archaeological site.

This site was unearthed by a joint Swedish and Greek team and includes parts of a Byzantine fortress and some evidence of late Minoan structures, which would date the site back to around 3500 years ago.

Just up from the site is the highest point in the old town, on a fortified outcrop. I had a brief wander round the ruins of a monastery located just off of the top, and then headed up to the bastion on the top of the outcrop which offered stunning views over the old harbour. I spent quite a bit of time up there taking in the views, before heading down into the old harbour itself and walking round to the Venetian Firka Castle on the far side.

There isn’t actually much to see inside the castle, other than the views from the ramparts, but it did give an opportunity to climb a small tower to take in views over towards the islands and further west along the north coast. Once I’d done looking round the castle I headed back down into the harbour and grabbed a quick lunch.

I then wandered back up through town to the bus station to catch the early afternoon bus along the coast to the town of Kissamos – the western most major settlement on the island. The bus runs mostly along the coast the whole way, with hotels and resorts lining the road for at least half the way there. I’d arrived in Kissamos on a day when the Archaeological museum was closed, but that didn’t matter as there are several sights out in the open that are well worth visiting, including the small by beautiful chapel of Michael the Archangel in the main town square and then a little further down the road the ruins of a Roman Cemetery and an even earlier necropolis below the street.

I had intended on popping into the impressive St. Spyridon Church, but as I was approaching it there was clear evidence that a funeral was going on, so I decided the last thing they needed was a nosy tourist, so instead I took a few photos of the outside and then continued on.

Almost next door to the church is a small spring that’s been topped by an impressive Venetian carved stone fountain, that’s clearly still used as whilst I was taking some photos someone walked up with their water bottle and filled up.

I headed back through the centre of town and then down the hill towards the beach part of the town, which was also conveniently where the bus station was located. I stopped off at a beach bar looking out over the two peninsulas that Kissamos sits between and had a drink before it was time to wander back over to the bus station and catch the bus back to Chania. I’d not timed it particularly well with the 6pm bus getting stuck in some serious traffic on the outskirts of Chania, so rather than the 70 minutes it should have taken it was close to 8pm by the time we finally made to the bus station.

I decided to quickly pop back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out to one of the restaurants in the back streets of the old town for a quick bit to eat before turning in for the night.