This consists of the city of Chania and several nearby areas, including Kounoupidiana, Mournies, Souda, Nerokouros, Daratsos, Perivolia, Galatas and Aroni.

Chania was the site of a Minoan settlement, known from Linear B tablets from Knossos as having been named Ku-do-ni-ja (Mycenaean Greek: 𐀓𐀈𐀛𐀊).

Some notable archaeological evidence for the existence of this Minoan city below some parts of today's Chania was found by excavations[3] in the district of Kasteli in the Old Town.

[4] Cydonia reemerged after the end of the Minoan period as an important city-state in Classical Greece, one whose domain extended from Chania Bay to the feet of the White Mountains.

Cydonia was constantly at war with other Cretan city-states such as Aptera, Phalasarna, and Polyrrinia and was important enough for the Cydonians to be mentioned in Homer's Odyssey.

[5][6] In 69 BC, the Roman consul Q. Caecilius Metellus defeated the Cretans and conquered Cydonia, to which he granted the privileges of an independent city-state.

[citation needed] Cydonia was not well documented in late antiquity or in the early medieval period, when it was first ruled by the Byzantine Empire (395–824) and then by the Emirate of Crete (824–961).

In order to deter another Arab invasion, the Byzantines strongly fortified the city, reusing materials from ancient buildings in the area.

Chania was the seat of a Byzantine bishopric, which became the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Canea under Venetian rule and then the Latin titular see of Cydonia.

On the other hand, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, many priests, monks and artists took refuge in Crete and reinforced the Byzantine religion and culture on the island.

[9] During the opening months of the Cretan War (1645–1669) the city's walls did not prevent an Ottoman army from capturing it from the Venetians after a two-month siege.

Many Cretans fled to escape persecution, many others were slaughtered or converted to Islam, while numerous Turkish Muslim settlers arrived changing the ethnic mix of the city.

Due to the island's mixture of Muslim and Christian residents, Crete was the subject of international debate between the European great powers, most notably at the Treaty of Berlin (1878) which resulted in the Pact of Halepa.

[15] In 1898, during the final moves towards independence and enosis—union with Greece—the Great Powers made Chania the capital of the semi-autonomous Cretan State (Kritiki Politeia), with Prince George of Greece, the High Commissioner of Crete living here.

This was a very important transitional period when, no longer an isolated vilayet of the Ottoman Empire, the city became more cosmopolitan and flourishing, regaining its role as the crossroad of civilizations, influenced by Europe as well as by the East.

Many important buildings were built during this era, intellectual and artistic societies were created and a new class of local aristocracy brought a different atmosphere to the everyday life of the town.

The series of conflicts includes the Therisos revolt in 1905, which overthrew Prince George and brought Alexandros Zaimis to rule Crete.

Due to the popularity of Venizelos, Chania as with most of Crete remained staunchly pro-Venizelist, pro-Liberal and later pro-Republican in the National Schism and the interwar period.

The British force that faced the German paratroopers during the Battle Of Crete in 1941, had artillery elements over the hill of Dexameni in the south of the city.

Part of the city was bombed and a significant proportion of the area's population was either executed or imprisoned due to participation in the resistance against the German rule.

Since the 1990s, the city of Chania has entered a new era, mainly due to construction and infrastructure such as a new airport, port and educational facilities, and it is considered a prominent tourist resort in the Mediterranean Sea.

Some of the historical buildings of the area (including old embassies of foreign countries) had been destroyed or abandoned during the later decades of the 20th century, and it was only recently when some interest was shown for the restoration of the remaining ones.

Part of the marine area of Halepa is called Tabakaria, where a unique architectural complex of old leather processing houses is situated.

[20]Apart from the previously mentioned older districts of the modern part of the town, several new residential areas have been developed during the 20th century, like Agios Ioannis, Koumbes, Lentariana, Pachiana and Pasakaki.

The atmosphere is always warm, but strong heat waves (temperatures above 38 °C) are not very common, since the prevailing etesian winds ("Meltemia") blow from the Aegean Sea and pleasantly moderate the conditions.

[29] The municipality forms the eastern shore of Chania Bay (Kolpos Chanion Κόλπος Χανίων) and is bordered by Platanias (6) to the west, Sfakia (7) to the south and Apokoronas (2) to the east.

attempt from the municipality to create a chamber music group named "Sinfonietta" has been successful and its performances throughout the year have enriched the cultural event calendar of the city.

Chanion[37]) organizing weekly excursions of varying difficulty on the mountains of Crete and several other longer term missions in mainland Greece and abroad.

A large portion of the city's residents (not necessarily farmers) own many hectares of agricultural land where several plants are being cultivated, the most common ones being olive trees and citrus.

The organization of the Agricultural August has been a recent attempt to promote local quality products including a series of activities organised by the Prefecture of Chania since 1999 has proved very successful.