PALAIOCHORA-CHANIA

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Palaiochora is a new town, which did not come into existence until the end of the 19th century. Till then there were in this area only scattered cottages for the local farmers to live in, while they were working in the fields, or to use as storerooms for tools and crops. They had quite a big production of particularly olives, which were brought to Chania by sea. Some olive exporters therefore founded the future town here, where the ships could berth sheltered by the old Venetian castle. The castle was built in 1279, originally to fight "the wild population's rebellion" as Gerola describes the locals. But the rebels captured it and destroyed it. The Venetians decided in 1325 to rebuild the castle and colonise the area. In 1536 the fortress was bombarded by Barbarossa and destroyed once more. Even though it was later rebuilt, it never obtained its earlier importance. In 1653 the Turks again captured and destroyed it from dry land. 76 km from Chania is Palaiochora. This is the southernmost town in the Prefecture of Chania, on the Libyan Sea. It has a population of 1,500, most of them former residents of Sfakia or Gavdos. The town straddles a peninsula on the southern end of which, in 1282, the Venetians built their Castelo Selino, which gave its name to the whole district. On the outside, the castle is quite well preserved. Palaiochora has numerous churches and the ruins of buildings from both ancient and Roman times. On both sides of the peninsula there are excellent beaches, with fine sand and stands of tamarisks. The fine climate, the long spells of sunshine and the high temperature of the sea make this spot ideal for winter swimmers. The western beach, with fine sand and plenty of shady trees, is marginally better. It is 2 km long. There are more sandy coves to be found along the road to Yialos, at a distance of 7 km.
The beach on the eastern side of the peninsula has no fresh water; there are pebbles and it is less busy. Still further to the east there are more little coves with sand and pebbles. Two boat trips are possible from Palaiochora.
The first is to the little islet of Gavdos, and the other to the coastal village of Sougia. In Palaiochora we can also decide whether to return by the road along which we came or to continue to Sougia and then turn north for Chania. The passage across to Gavdos is accomplished by caique. This islet is the most southerly inhabited extremity of Europe, lying 28 miles from Crete and approximately 150 from the shores of northern Africa. It is triangular in shape, with an area of 37 square kilometres. The 80 inhabitants are shared out between the four hamlets, Kastri (the 'capital'), Vatsiana, Ambelos and Karaves, a tiny harbour.
According to some, this is the mythical Ogygia, Calypso's island, where Homer says Odysseus was shipwrecked. As evidence, the supporters of this theory point to the cave at Errikia, on the north-east cape of the island, as the place where Calypso had her palace and kept Odysseus captive for seven whole years. A beautiful bay with an excellent sandy beach (shade is supplied by scattered cedars and bushes) is only part of one's compensation for the voyage to Gavdos. The islet also has pine forests and a rare species of cypress grows there.