Venizelos Graves

Venizelos Graves is located in a small park on a hill overlooking Chania and it is the resting place of one of the most illustrious Greek stateman, Eleftherios Venizelos and his son Sofoklis. The spot on the hill has the perfect location , as you can see all the area of Chania from above , and watch magical sunsets as well.

Eleftherios Venizelos is among the most prominent political figures in modern Greece. Born in 1864 in the then Turkish-occupied Crete, he took an active part in revolutionary movements of the locals for the liberation of Crete and in the negotiations with the Turks. He served the Greek State as prime minister 7 times and died in 1936 self-exiled in Paris.

The statue of Spyros Kagiales in the same park refers to a legendary feat of bravery that happened in 1897. Venizelos and a group of rebels had raised a Greek flag at that spot. The Ottoman forces had requested help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels. A shell broke the flagpole and threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately by Kagiales by making his body a flagpole.

Just around the park , you can find three famous cafe-bars (Koukouvaya Cafe | Nymfes Cafe | Carte postale) where thousands of visitors, locals and non-locals, visit it every year enjoying the fairytale sunset.