Chania Kolimbari Village

General information

Kolimbari is a seaside village located 24 km west of Chania Town. With fish taverns along Kolimbari Beach and small hotels, it is a quiet resort ideal for families. A small harbor at the village’s northern end provides a safe spot for fishing boats and yachts to moor.
This is where the Ottomans first landed in Crete in 1645, starting the 24-year-long Cretan War and ending Venetian rule on the island. This is also the location that was chosen during the Cretan Revolution in 1895-1898 for a Greek interventionary force to land, which kick-started the brief Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and ultimately led to the creation of the autonomous Cretan State.

Kolimbari’s main attraction is the fortress-like Monastery of Hodegetria (Moni Gonias), where centuries of traditional architecture meet with a gorgeous view of the sea. The Monastery was built in the 17th century, with its characteristic fountain added in the 18th and the belfry added in the 19th century. Despite it being built in what was considered a safe location, it has suffered extensive damage at the hands of Ottoman forces a total of five times. Today it hosts an ecclesiastical museum and a rich library.

Kolimbari is home to the westernmost beach of Chania Bay, a long stretch of pebbly coast frequented by those on summer vacation, which meets Tavronitis Beach to the east for a combined length of 3 kilometers.
The village is surrounded by lush shades of green, with olive groves and other fields of agricultural activity all around it. The exception is the Rodopou Peninsula to its north, an arid, somewhat barren, and mostly uninhabited mountainous stretch of land, which offers some great hiking trails. The tip of the peninsula is 17 kilometers away from Kolimbari, with no amenities of any kind anywhere in between, so extreme care must be taken here.