I + 13 : Chania - Venetian Town with a Woven Ship

Chania's Venetian Light House is still standing strong

Turnover day today - again. As of 6 am, the deck hands started washing and scrubbing the MYRA. A little later we saw them polishing the Inox railings - even stainless steel rosts on the sea. Sailing team 2 was up at 7 am - last coffee on the back deck. Then it is time to say goodbye. Some fly home as early as 10.15 am, others stay for another day. The MYRA team needs the boat for taking deliveries and storing everything in the right place. We are going to sail for 9 - 10 hours to Kythira after lunch. Everything has to be tightly tied down.

Yesterday, we anchored just below Kastelli on the left side of the little Pier

Time to explore Chania and take photos. The town kept its Venetian character. There is a mosque, a minaret and a hamam which remind us of 250 years of Ottoman rule. Most of the buildings look as Venetian as when built in the 16/17th century. When the Turks took over, the local population remained. Ottoman soldiers returned home, the Greeks stayed. About half of the urban populations converted to islam. When expulsed in 1923 during the infamous "population exchange" - read ethnic cleansing - they formed tightly knit, Greek speaking communities in Anatolia - they did not speak a word of Turkish.

Started my tour in Kastelli, the rock to the east of the ancient harbor. I was looking for the few excavations done in this tightly settled area. There were more than I expected.

Excavation of the first Minoan Settlement on Kastelli, the Hill above Chania's Harbor

I counted four; some shielded by roofs from the vagaries of UV light and winter rain. The archeologists found remains of the first Minoan settlements and were able to reconstruct the shape of these homes.

Artist's Reconstruction of Minoan Homes on Kastelli

A bit further down are the remains of the Byzantine wall erected after 961 AD, when Constantinople took the island back from the Arabs. The walls were build in such a sturdy way that most of them still stand. The builders used whatever material was available.

Residential Homes were removed from the Byzantine Walls to show their Beauty

Many ancient columns which once decorated temples and public buildings made it into the wall as horizontal stabilizer. Today, we use steel for the same purpose to reinforce concrete walls and ceilings. Am sure today's National Heritage Officials would object - but this was a different time when safety was more important than preserving beauty.

Ancient Columns were used the provide Stability

A good ten minutes walking distance lay the Venetian renaissance walls built in the 1536. They are massive but did not have enough bastions to withstand a long bombardment.

Schiavo Bastion in Chania's South-Western Corner

Also, contraty to Rhodes, where trenches shielded the base of its double walls, the Venetian walls were single lines and exposed to artillery fire from a distance. When the Ottoman besieged Chania in 1645, they were able to breach these walls quickly. Surrendering such an important harbor after 56 days only unveils structural flaws in the design of the defence lines.

The Ottoman succeeded in breaching the Walls which were not protected by outer Bastions

Seven of the ten Venetian Workshops used to overhaul the Venetian Fleet in Winter

We also went to visit the workshops where th Venetian galleys were maintained during the winter months. Ten of them are still standing. One is used for housing Chania's Maritime Museum where the Minoan Replica ship is kept.

The 15 m long Replica Ship fills 1/3 of the Museum

Built in traditional style, its planks are woven together, then sealed with caulk and raisin before being wrapped in a waterproof cloath. An amazingly simple but effective way of building a boat with the long, slim cypress trees available from Crete's mountains. It is difficult to imagine but the island was once a dense cypress forest.

Archeologists believe that Minoans derived their Cypress Ships from weaving floats from ropes and timber (1), folding the "fabric" (2), then caulking and sealing it a cloth (3)

We are now waiting for the next crew and then head out into the open. Today's destination is Kythira close to the Peloponnese. The sailing will take 9 to 10 hours and should be fun. Wind and swell are looking good!

NB: We did not make it to Kythira - not enough wind and too much swell. At 8 pm we decided to stay overnight in Antikythira - the island where the famous Antikythira Device was found - the first analog computer in human history.

The harbor of Antikythira is deep - the Port Village tiny - we have dinner and sleep here