Alle Dörfer & Städte

Kandanos

Kantanos-Selino, Chania

About

Village of Byzantine churches.

Kandanos is a village in the Selino region, on the road from Chania to Paleochora. In 1941, German troops destroyed the village in reprisal for local resistance, and a plaque remembers this.

The area has many small Byzantine churches with frescoes, making it like an open-air museum.

On 3 June 1941, German troops completely destroyed Kandanos and killed about 180 of its inhabitants in reprisal for the villagers' resistance during the Battle of Crete, when they held up the German advance for two days. Signs placed by the Germans at the entrance declared that the village would never be rebuilt, and copies of those signs can still be seen. Kandanos was rebuilt after the war, and the area is known for its many small Byzantine churches with frescoes.

Kantanos-Selino is the remote south-west corner of Crete, a land of chestnut forests, gorges and small villages with Byzantine churches painted with frescoes. Paleochora is the main town, with a beach on each side of its little peninsula, and Sougia is a laid-back village at the end of a winding road. Walking is wonderful here: the E4 path follows the coast, and gorges like Agia Irini and Anydri lead down to the Libyan Sea. Boats connect the south coast villages in summer.

Highlights & amenities

Entry: Free

Around Kantanos-Selino

The west of Crete is the island at its most dramatic. Chania has the most beautiful Venetian old town on Crete, wrapped around a harbour with a lighthouse and a domed mosque. In the evening the narrow lanes of Splantzia and the old Jewish quarter fill up with tavernas and small bars. More about Chania