Palaiochora ( el, Παλαιόχωρα or Παλιόχωρα) is a small town in Chania regional unit,

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 ...

. It is located 70 km south of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled 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 west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

, on the southwest coast 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 ...

and occupies a small peninsula 400 m wide and 700 m long. The town is set along 11 km of coastline bordering the

Libyan Sea The Libyan Sea (Greek , Latin ''Libycum Mare'', Arabic البحر الليبي) is the portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of the African coast of ancient ''Libya'', i.e. Cyrenaica, and Marmarica (the coast of what is now eastern Libya and ...

. It is the seat of the municipality of Kantanos–Selino and its population was 1,675 in the 2011 census.

Economy

Palaiochora's economy is based on tourism and agriculture (mainly

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es cultivated in glass houses and also

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

). It is a relaxing holiday destination since the early 1970s when it was popular with

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

s. Palaiochora has crystal clear waters, well organised beaches, and beautiful isolated small anchorages. It is served by numerous hotels, restaurants, tavernas, cafés, and bars. Facilities in Palaiochora include bank branches, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, a central telephone office, a health centre, doctor's offices, dentists, chemists, a police station, a coast guard and customs office, and many types of stores. Ferry boats connect Palaiochora with

Sougia Sougia ( el, Σούγια) is a community and a small village in Chania regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of East Selino (''Anatoliko Selino''). It is located on the south coast of the island, 70 ...

Agia Roumeli Agia Roumeli ( el, Αγιά Ρούμελη) is a small village in southwest Crete, Greece and is popular with tourists. Background Located a few kilometers above the town is the southern entrance to the Samaria Gorge. For most walkers, this is ...

, Loutro,

Chora Sfakion Image:Chora Sfakion 1941 evacuation monument.jpg, 200px, Monument commemorating the evacuation during WW2 of British and ANZAC forces from Hora Sfakion in May 1941. ''Click on the left plaque for a closer view'' rect 198 536 320 1082 rect 0 0 900 ...

, and

Gavdos Gavdos ( el, Γαύδος, ) is the southernmost Greek island, located to the south of its much larger neighbour, Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the regional unit of Chania. It forms a community with surrounding islets and was ...

. Local attractions include the abundant wild flowers in the spring, the opportunity to see Venetian and Byzantine wall paintings in some of the local churches (those in Anidri and Voutas being particularly impressive), and a museum dedicated to the Acretans in the town itself. The nearby village of Azogires, 5 km away, contains a museum dedicated to the area as well as the, now empty, Monastery of the 99 Holy Fathers and what is claimed to be the largest Evergreen Plane Tree on the Island. In 2009 it was planned to open a number of signposted walking routes in the area and the town is on the European E4 Long Distance Footpath. Palaiochora is built on the ruins of the ancient city of

Kalamydi Kalamydi () is an ancient Dorian city on the south coast of Western Crete. It was first tentatively identified in 1837 by Robert Pashley in the second volume of his book ''Travels in Crete''. It is located near Palaiochora in Chania regional unit, ...

History

In 1278, the Venetian general Marino Gradenigo built a fort in the Palechora area, called the "Selino Kasteli". The fort gave its name to the whole province, previously called "Orina", which was then renamed "Selino". The fort was destroyed in 1332 and it was rebuilt in 1334. Near the fort, the Venetians established a new settlement for workers and merchants called Vourgos. The general

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ot ...

destroyed the fort in 1539, but later in 1595 Dolf revamped it. In 1645, the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

conquered the town and modified the fort to suit their needs. In 1834 an English traveler named

Robert Pashley Robert Pashley (4 September 1805 – 29 May 1859) was a 19th-century English traveller, lawyer and economist. Pashley was born in York and he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. Distinguished in mathematics and Classics, in 1830 he was elected ...

found the fort completely destroyed and the whole area without any inhabitants and with only a granary and one or two small buildings left. In 1866 the recolonization of Paleochora began. In December 1866, during the

Cretan uprising Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterr ...

against the Ottoman Turks, the British

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

evacuated some 340 women and children from Paleochora, then known as Selino Castelli (or Selino Kastelli), and took them to Piraeus for safety. This caused a major international incident since the Ottoman authorities accused the British of siding with the Cretan rebels. Russian gunboats followed suit, evacuating refugees from Loutro and Sougia, east of Paleochora. During the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the town was the scene of fighting between motorcycle-riding troops of the German 95th Reconnaissance Battalion and the Eighth Greek Regiment (Provisional) with elements of the Cretan Gendarmerie. The Germans built a number of gun emplacements by the Venetian Fortezza and their remains are still present. The general phase of

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

that started in other parts of Greece in the 1960s, took place in the 1950s on the nearby island of

. During that period the islanders exchanged their land on Gavdos for ex-Turkish land on Crete, which had now become exchangeable through a state program. They created a community known as "Gavdiotika", in the 'old town' section of Paleochora.

Climate

The town has a Mediterranean climate.

References

External links

Current weather conditionspaleochora.comThe Paleochora Site - Walks, Weather, Recipes, Botany, History of Paleochora
* ttp://www.palaiochora.com/ Site dedicated to palaiochora with many webcams , virtual tour and other villages around palaiochora {{Kantanos-Selino div Populated places in Chania (regional unit)