Halepa

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.

Coffee with a view but not a smell

Enjoying a cappuccino and a good book at Koum Kapi.

The housing settlement on the promontory in the left hand side of the photo is relatively new. The houses in this area, called Koumbeli, are very modern, nearly all of them less than 15 years old. It is considered a rather posh area, mainly due to the middle-class (and above) residents.

It is also the smelliest area in Hania; there are days when the 150 privileged people who live there cannot open their windows due to the retching stink that pervades the air. Koumbeli is located just above the waste management plant where the waste of the whole town is 'cleaned' before being thrown into the sea...

Before and after

That was then (March 2008) ...


A house was pulled down here in this central town street to make way for a new building to be erected on the section - probably an apartment block, as the rest of the street is full of them. Before the ground is dug up to lay foundations for the new building, the archaeologists move in first to check for remains of ancient structures. The remains will be recorded, and eventually the owner of the plot will be allowed to start building on the land.

UPDATE: The holes in the ground are actually made for testing purposes by the archaeology authorities to see if there is anything worth checking out - thanks, Zambia.

This is now...



Four stories high - all that remains of the former place are the walls that divide the surrounding properties.

Buildings

The last month in Hania has been very cold and dreary, although the sea is always an uplifting sight.

This photo shows the antithesis of the architecture we often come across in Hania. The two buildings on the corner of the road, standing across from each other, were probably both built around the same time. But the fate of each one has taken a different turn.

A wide range of buildings stand side-by-side in Hania, each one representing a different time period. Click on the photo to see the notes.

Terraced houses

This is the closest Hania comes to terraced houses.

These houses are found in the area of Koum Kapi, what was once a seedy neighbourhood by the old port. The area has now been transformed into the centre of summer nightlife, filled with cafes frequented by university students in the winter (ie, prime property). The change from 'undesirable' to 'up-and-coming' neighbourhood can be seen on the left: one of those terraced houses has become a brand new multi-story apartment building.

Blocked sink

The last time we called in a plumber to unblock the bathroom sink, he fished out Barbie's shoes and a toy soldier. We paid him (the plumber, not the soldier) 50 euro.



Now bloody Spiderman's down there.

I'm waiting to see if he'll climb back up on his own.

Reserved space

The Greek way to ensure you'll find your parking space outside your house on an inner city street.

Fuel for the winter

Heating a home in the winter can be expensive, no matter how cheap fuel is. This house is found in a row of low-rise apartment blocks in the centre of the town. Although modern housing has simplified the process of heating a home, it hasn't brought the costs down. Most people in Greece rely on oil for heating, which we all know can never be relied on for price. Someone here is using wood, but not necessarily in a fireplace. A lot of people (mainly in rented homes) still use old style furnaces, with an element on top which can act as a cooker.

This photo hides a lot of aspects of Greek life - badly maintained inner city housing (usually rented out to economic immigrants), exposed water taps and meters, and motorcycles parked on the footpath, which means pedestrians have to walk on the road.

Vendetta

On a recent trip up to the Omalos plateau in Hania, near the Lefka Ori mountain range, we passed by a small neighbourhood with a few houses clustered around it. In more recent years, these roughshod dwellings became larger to accommodate more people like tourists and hunters (hare, partridges, turtledoves, and other small birds can be found here).

The small housing settlement on the Omalos plateau.

As you pass by the houses, you come across one that looks as though it did not survive an earthquake well. The first floor looks buckled like the motorways after a sever case of seismic activity in Japan and California, while the rooms hang lopsided over the shelled-out cavity below. The neighbours' houses, however, haven't suffered any damage whatsoever.

The Crooked House on the Omalos Plateau

Here's the story I've heard about how this house got to this state. About 45-50 years ago, Mr A (the owner of the house, which was also a kind of bed and breakfast with a cafe operating on the ground floor) and Mr B were involved in shady dealings (they were growing other kinds of 'horta'), whose profits were shared among them. One of these deals didn't go as planned. Mr A questioned Mr B about his share of the profits. Mr B admitted that he had made a mistake in his calculations, and that he'd go to his car and get more money to give to Mr A. Mr A was watching Mr B as he went to his car. As Mr B walked back to Mr A, Mr A noticed that he was carrying a gun. At that moment, Mr A took out his gun (he was also carrying one), shot Mr B dead, took his wife and kids and left Crete forever, fearing revenge attacks, which is clearly how this matter developed, since his house, cafe and guest rooms were blown up. Rumour has it that he went to the USA...

VENDETTA!

Crooked house

This house is found at the Omalos plateau, near the entrance of the Samaria Gorge. Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to how it got into this state?

The answer will be posted later in the week (along with more photos).

Apartment with a view

Imagine living in an apartment like this one. My father spent the last eight years of his life in the apartment exactly above the entrance of the white building in the photo, with the beige canvas shade. As you look at the photo, on the left there is a car park, on the right, there is another large apartment block (it houses a Presbyterian church on the ground floor), and in the middle of this, there is a dull-looking narrow one-way street....


... which faces this view at the end of the road:

...it looks directly onto the town's municipal park. Having suffered from claustrophobia most of his life, my father who lived in this apartment for the last eight years of his life was so thankful he didn't have to stare into other people's apartments from his living room balcony. He had a view of the trees in the park, a view that will never be obscured, no matter what building projects take place left and right of the apartment.

When all his neighbours were staring at each other from their balconies, he was lucky to have a view of the biggest garden in the town.

The open window

How do you feel about leaving your windows open at night?



These two photos were both taken in the town centre in the early evening, in an inner-city neighbourhood close to the law courts. The garage door is wide open in the top photo, while the bottom photo shows the open windows and shutters of an apartment known in Greece as an ημι-υπόγειο (imi-ipoyei; semi-basement), so that anyone at ground level (like myself) can peek in and see what the people are doing in there.



Not that I would leave my windows wide open all night, but this is what makes used to make us feel very very safe as residents of Hania. Now, with the chaos reigning since Alexis' death, I really don't feel safe anywhere.

Former cupboard

The house to the left of this site was knocked down many months ago, to make way for a new building project, probably an apartment block like the ones that surround this ruin. The building work was stopped when ancient ruins were discovered on the site; you can see them here. Nearly a year has passed since I took that photo, and the area has only recently been cordoned off to start the building work, except for thislittle corner, which is obviously going to be used as the entry-exit point for workers.

The cupboard (with the green door) must have formed part of the former kitchen of the building that was torn down. The building it is attached to must be part of another house (the one next door or possibly behind the construction site), which is why it hasn't been knocked down. Space is tight in the inner-city, but this neighbourhood is particularly nice to live in. It's close to the law courts in the town.

Answer to yesterday's quiz: the small room on the right hand side of the photo is the toilet-bathroom. The metal box is the water deposit. In the past, houses were built with outdoor toilets and a simple shower attachment connected to a tap to take a shower. No house is built in this way now in Greece, due to planning restritcitions.

Guess what?

This house is found on narrow side street in the town centre, part of an old inner-city neighbourhood. It looks well-kept, but empty, as if the house is being used by summer residents of the town; the table and chairs have been placed in such a way that it looks as though they won't be in use for a while.



This is the view exactly across the narrow road in front of this house; I wouldn't want to be any where near here during an earthquake.

Notice the low-ceiling room on the left of the house with the blue gate, with a big white metal box on the roof: what is it???

Answer tomorrow.

Narrow path

It doesn't get any narrower than this - the space between these two buildings in the old walled town of Hania is just enough for the average person to walk through. It could be used as a gauge for obesity...

These buildings are used mainly as housing, although they are found in the tourist hub of the old town. The original residents were local people, but as they move (or pass) away, they are used as cheap accommodation for economic migrants, while some more daring owners turn them into bars, restaurants, clubs and other similar ventures, to be used in the winter months when people prefer to entertain themselves indoors.

Bird's eye view

A bird's eye view of the buildings in the Old Port of Hania, taken from the western side of the wall enclosing the old town.

Old well

This house, recently renovated, is found close to the city centre. In the garden are the remains of a disused well. An amusing piece of machinery, completely unknown to most young people these days.

Ivy-covered house

This is not a common sight in Hania; for a start, the overly hot rainless summer weather does not allow leafy plants to flourish. The owners of this house must know how cool a house can feel in the summer when it's covered in lush greenery.

This building is found in the centre of the town.

A country house kitchen

Greek people love to maintain their parents' and forebearers' village houses as summer homes. This is where they go on holiday in the summer, for Easter, to entertain friends, but not usually for Christmas, as the houses are found in remote areas and may not have adequate heating.

This is the kitchen of a family friend's village house in Vathi, the second-to-last village you come across on your way to the beautiful beach of Elafonisi. The rough walls have been whitewashed. As there are not enough cupboards, pots and pans have been hung up over a plastic tablecloth hung up on the wall. An old ceramic urn has been topped with a sprig of thyme to stop creepy crawlers form entering it. Everything has an air of old-worldliness, like a Beatrix Potter illustration; any minute you expect Mrs Rabbit to come into the photo wearing her checkered blue and white apron.

Child photography

My mother uses her camera a lot, but she doesn't like to let me use it. I can't understand why, since they are so easy to use these days, and you can delete the photos you don't like. But Petros doesn't mind if I use his camera. He says it's broken anyway; that's why he's stuck a band-aid on it, to stop a square disk inside it from falling out. When I used his camera, I took photos of my toys, the turtle my brother made at summer camp school, and the buzzy bees on the wardrobe.


When I opened up the wardrobe, Petros asked me what was in the coloured box. I pulled open one of the drawers to show him what was inside. He asked me if I wanted to take a photo of that too, so I did. Here are my brother's underpants.

Photography by Christine Drikakis;
photographic equipment kindly donated by Petros Hahladakis