![Gulf of Chania satellite picture](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Gulf_of_Chania_satellite_picture.jpg)
The Gulf of Chania is an
embayment
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
of the
Sea of Crete
300px, Map of the Sea of Crete
The Sea of Crete (, ''Kritiko Pelagos''), or Cretan Sea, is a sea, part of the Aegean Sea, located in its southern extremity, with a total surface area of . The sea stretches to the north of the island of Crete, eas ...
in the northwestern region of the island of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
in present-day
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. One headland forming the Gulf of Chania is the promontory known as the
Akrotiri Peninsula
The Akrotiri Peninsula is a short peninsula which includes the southernmost point of the island of Cyprus. It is bounded by Episkopi Bay to the west and Akrotiri Bay to the east and has two capes to the south-west and south-east, known as Cape Zev ...
.
Ancient history
In
prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
the powerful city of
Kydonia
Kydonia or Cydonia (; grc, Κυδωνία; lat, Cydonia) was an ancient city-state on the northwest coast of the island of Crete. It is at the site of the modern-day Greek city of Chania. In legend Cydonia was founded by King Cydon (), a son ...
commanded the Gulf of Chania and was a center of early Cretan art and culture in western Crete. By 74
BC the city-state of Kydonia fended off an attack by Rome in a naval battle in the Gulf of Chania.
[Chania during antiquity]
See also
*
Britomartis
Britomartis (; grc-gre, Βριτόμαρτις) was a Greek goddess of mountains and hunting, who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes believed to be an oread, or a mountain nymph, but she was often conflated or syn ...
Line notes
References
Chania during antiquity* C. Michael Hogan
*
Robert Lambert Playfair
Sir (Robert) Lambert Playfair (21 March 1828 – 18 February 1899) was a British soldier, diplomat, naturalist and author.
Early life
Lambert Playfair was a grandson of James Playfair, principal of the University of St Andrews, and son of Geo ...
(1892) ''Handbook to the Mediterranean: Its Cities, Coasts and Islands'', J. Murray publisher
Gulfs of Greece
Gulfs of the Aegean Sea
Landforms of Chania (regional unit)
Landforms of Crete
{{Crete-geo-stub