The old minaret adjacent to St Nikolaos church is a perfect reminder of the way the East met the West in the town I made my home, Chania, Crete, Greece. The photographs I post all help to tell a part of a longer story that focuses on the town and its citizens, whether they are living there now, or have made their home in other parts of the world. As a newer resident, by writing about the town in this way, I am trying to put some order into the chaos that I seem to be confronted with.
Saturday 3 May 2008
The city wall
Once upon a time, in the bad old days of pirates and invading armies, the Venetian citizens of Hania, Crete, decided to build a wall around the three sides of the coastal town around 1350 AD to defend themselves against invaders. The gates of the city were locked at a certain hour every evening to prevent rebels from entering the town and destroying it or taking it over. Most of the wall has now been torn down; just a few crumbling pieces remain on the eastern side (in the above photo); there is an open-air theatre in operation in the summer in this area. The remaining parts of the western side are in slightly better shape, but the main wall in front of the town has gone.
The grassy area in front was supposedly a moat that ran around the wall to protect it even further, but no water ever actually filled it, according to historical records.
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