Chania - City of Greece

Chaniá is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania Prefecture. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 70 km west of Rethymno and 145 km west of Heraklion.

The city enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate, with sunny dry summers and mild rainy winters. During the period between April and October, clear-sky weather is almost an everyday feature. The atmosphere is always warm, but fierce heat waves are not very common, since the prevailing Etesian winds blow from northern directions and pleasantly moderate the conditions. Intervals of sunny days are frequent during the windy and rainy winter as well.

Chania is the site of the Minoan settlement the Greeks called Cydonia, Greek for quince. Some notable archaeological evidence for the existence of this Minoan city below some parts of today's Chania was found by excavations in the district of Kasteli in the Old Town. This area appears to have been inhabited since the Neolithic era. The city reemerged after the end of the Minoan period as an important city-state in Classical Greece, one whose domain extended from Hania Bay to the feet of the White Mountains.

The early Christian period under Byzantine rule and the rule of the Arabs, who called the settlement Chania, are not well documented. During the former, Christianity spread in the island but during the latter, the Christian population was persecuted and moved to the mountains. The Byzantine Empire retook the city in 961 AD . They began to strongly fortify the city in order to prevent another Arab invasion, using materials from the ancient buildings of the area. By this time Chania was the seat of a bishop.

Fortunately, Chania and Crete in general escaped the disastrous consequences of the Greek Civil War of the postwar years. The city of Chania was slowly regaining its normal pace of development during the 1950s, trying to overcome the difficulties that the war had left as an aftermath. During the 1970s Crete became a major tourist destination for Greek and international tourists, something that gave a significant boost to the city's economy and affected the everyday life and the overall culture of the locals. The capital of Crete was moved to Heraklion in 1971.

The cultural background of Chania is very rich, first of all due to the town's long history and its interaction with many diverse civilizations in the past. Furthermore the location of Crete as well as the cosmopolitan atmosphere that tourism creates, have generally kept the town up-to-date with modern advances in art and knowledge. Currently, there are several museums, art galleries, theatre and music groups, educational and research institutions within the city.

Educational institutions located at the greater area of the city are:

The Technical University of Crete. It is the largest educational institution in Chania with around 2600 undergraduate and 700 postgraduate students. It is focusing on Electronic and Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Production Engineering and Management, Mineral Resources Engineering, Sciences and Architecture. Future plans include a Civil Engineering and a Fine Arts department.

-The Chania branch of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete

-The Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania

-Other research and intellectual institutes and societies in Chania are:

-The National Research Foundation "Eleftherios K. Venizelos"

-The Mediterranean Architecture Centre

-The Institute of Olive Tree and Subtropical Plants of Chania.