Wednesday 20 May 2009

Halepa

view of halepa from koum kapi hanai chania

Looking from Koum Kapi to the suburb of Halepa.

Less than a hundred years ago, the suburb of Halepa, just one kilometre east of the town, was filled with high society. the grnadeur of the place can still be seen by the large buildings with their neo-classiscal architecture. This is where foreign embassies were once located. Hania was then the capital of the island state of Crete (a title it lost in 1971 to Iraklio), which had not as yet formally joined the union of states that formed the newly created Hellenic Republic, what is now known as Greece. Crete joined Ellas in 1913, after which foreign embassies were no longer needed on the island.

Evagelistria church can be seen on the left (the blue dome), while the large looking building on the right located on the coastline is a function venue (called Honolulu). The older buildings and houses are clearly discernible among the newer high rise apartment blocks, which are all built around the older part of the area, stretching up into the hills.

5 comments:

  1. Amazing what you can see when you know what is there to look for.

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  2. Nice photograph. I used to live in Halepa on a tiny street just down from Ag. Evangelistria. It was fun to be reminded. We would often swim off the rocks that are sort of in the centre of the photo.

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  3. Thank you for that piece of history. It might be worth looking up next time.

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  4. Thank You My Friend,

    You make me miss Crete more and more everyday !

    Need to come back soon!

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  5. Thanks for the history teaching, which I really need.
    Shalom from "Konstantina."

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