We began our first (and only) full day in Chania, Crete with a walking tour of the Old Town. The Old Town is full of little streets and alleys that we began exploring last night as we tried to find the hotel after dinner, but this morning, we got to see them in the daylight and get our bearings. Our tour guide, Gabrielle, led us into the market building across from our hotel which was full of olives, traditional cheeses, and Cretan bananas. She told us that another traditional Cretan dish is snails with rosemary and ham, which our class seemed to have mixed opinions on! We also saw an old minaret, a type of tower that is built next to mosques.
Then we stopped at the Archeological Museum of Chania to learn more about the first high civilization of Europe, the Minoan civilization in Crete (from around 2700 – 1100 BCE). One of my favorite things that we saw in this museum was a big glass case that was full of differently sized clay statues of bulls! These bulls used to be in an open air sanctuary to Poseidon – Gabrielle told us that bulls can represent many deities, including Poseidon, as well as strength and fertility. We’ve seen more columns and pots on this trip than we can count, but this was our first time seeing tons of clay bulls!
Next, we went to the Etz Hayyim Synagogue to learn about Jewish history in Crete. We were able to visit a Jewish Museum back in Thessaloniki but this was our first (and maybe only) synagogue visit so it was exciting and interesting to see. Etz Hayyim was originally a Catholic Church but during the Ottoman Empire’s rule of Crete in the 17th century, it was converted into a synagogue. We learned about the Cretan Jewish population and World War II. During the Nazi occupation of Crete, everything in the synagogue was destroyed so what we were able to see today was rebuilt from donations from people around the world in the late 90s. We also learned about the differences in synagogue layouts between the Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and Romaniote traditions of Jewish people.
We finished our touring for the day by driving out to the Agia Triada Tzagaroli Monastery which was beautiful and home to many cats! The monks at this monastery have their own vineyards and sheep. We toured their church and were also able to see their old olive press machine. Then we had the afternoon free so a few of us got falafel, sweets, and then went back to the hotel to finish some homework before class tonight. Chania is beautiful and although we’ll be sad to leave, we’re excited to venture to another Cretan city, Heraklion, tomorrow!
By: Zipi Diamond
Oles in Greece 2020 