The town of Kissamos
The town of Kissamos is built along a wonderful sandy beach, with fine sand and crystal clear water.
The sea side road of the town with the beautiful cafes and restaurants is offered for pleasant evening strolls.
A walk inside the town reveals to the passenger parts of the past, like the old Venetian fountain built in 1520, or the old governor's house that will be restored to house the cultural society of Kissamos.
The town is spacious, with parks, picturesque roads and beautiful squares, one of them is dedicated to the great Cretan statesman E. Venizelos.
Excavations in the town have brought to light wonderful buildings from the Roman times (theater, villas, tombs, baths) as well as statues and fine mosaics.
In many building sites of the modern city have been found foundations of Roman houses and maisons with wonderful mosaics, some of them can be admired in the excavations behind the Health Center of Kissamos.
| The History of Kissamos |
Kissamos flourished during the Roman period and most of its remainings belong to this period. It continues to exist and flourish also during the first Byzantine period, and an episcopical seat was founded there in 342 AD.
The Venetians built a castle on the location of the ancient town and great walls, to withstand the numerus rebellions of the locals. It withstanded the rebellion of 1261-63 but was demolished when the pirate Barbarossa occupied the village. In 1554 it was rebuilted, but it was totally demolished in 1595 by an earthquake. It was also rebuilted in 1635 by Lorenzo Contarini. Inside the fort was a church, army barracks, jail and a water well.
In 1646 the commander of the fort garrison Giovanni Medici opened the gates to the new conqueror, the Turks. Then in 1692 the locals occupied the fort with the assist of the Venetian admiral Mocenigo, but then the Venetians retreated and the Turks took over the fort again.
In 1821 during the Greek revolution, 1800 Turks with their families seeked shelter inside the fort, and were besieged by the Cretans. At the same time two greek ships from the island of Hydra blocated the harbor. The blockade lasted untill 1823 when the Greek high commisioner of Crete, Emanuel Tobazis, landed to Kissamos and the Turks were forced to surrender.
However, the Turks took over the castle again untill 1825 when the Greek revolutionaries who were at the time intending to take over the castle of Gramvoussa, learned that the garrison of the castle was only 20 soldiers, attacked and took over the castle again. The castle was however taken over by the Turks under Mustaffa Pasas again...
Part of these great walls still stand today inside the city.
| Facilities |
The town is built by the golf of Kissamos and has two ports. The smaller one is the older, traditional port where small fishing boats moor. The new port is to the road to Falassarna and offers all the facilities to serve passenger and cargo ships. The port of Kissamos links Crete to the nearest island of Kythira, the Peloponnese (Kalamata and Gythion), and the Piraeus.
By using the port of Kissamos, the visitors can avoid the crowdy port of Pireaus and come to Crete from Peloponesse, and start the tour to Crete by its western side.
Life is passing quietly in the town and you forget the noise
of the city in its good hotels, apartments and private rooms.
Its hospitality and touristic facilities in Cretan atmosphere provide whatever the visitor needs.
There are high-school, banks, Post-office, Bus-station, Telephone-center (OTE), Health-center, Camping sites, car and motorbike rental offices, as well as shops for leather, gold, folk craft, woodcarving, etc.
There are also several tavernas and restaurants where the visitor can taste the delicious dishes of the Cretan traditional cousine, fresh fish from the bay and last but not least the famous Kissamos wine.
Tourist Facilities
The county of Kissamos
Road map (clickable)
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Town plan ]
