Chania Kalyves Village

More about Kalyves

The sea here is notably cold, due to the river nearby. The same holds true for Kyani Akti or Glaros Beach to the north, where the Kyliaris River empties into the sea. This beach lines the coast all the way up to Kalami and is significantly less organized and crowded.
Kyliaris River is the second-longest in Crete, at about 5 kilometers, with its Feeders taking that number up to a total of 36 kilometers! Its sources are situated in the White Mountains, at an altitude of 2000 meters, and throughout its course, it grants Crete some of its greenest, most fertile regions.

Northeast of the village stand the ruins of Castel di Apicorno, a structure first built by the Genoese in 1206 in their attempt to take control of Crete before the Venetians. This fortress suffered destruction at the hands of Hayreddin Barbarossa, the famed Turkish pirate, before being disarmed by the Venetians as they surrendered Crete to the Ottoman Empire.
Its final destruction came at the hands of Greek revolutionaries in 1821, who utterly destroyed the structure, leaving behind nothing but the remains of the magazine.

South of the village, along the old National Road, one can visit a large complex known as Kathidrima Timiou Stavrou (True Cross Foundation), a charitable institution which includes a three-aisled church dedicated to the True Cross, St. Ephraim, and the Neomartyrs Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene.

The most easily discernible building in Kalyves is the church of Agia Paraskevi, opposite the town square. Just down the road stands is a watermill, constructed during the 16th or 17th century, built with a special form of mortar made of crushed ceramics. This mill, standing over the last remaining waters of the area’s third river, Mesopotamos, became Chania’s first electric plant in 1928, providing power to the village, as well as Kalami Prison (housed at Izzedin Fortress) to the north, six months before Chania Town got a power station of its own.