Chania Bay

On Crete's northwest coast, Chania Bay faces the Aegean beneath the White Mountains. The ancient city of Kydonia drew its territory from the bay to the mountain foothills, and the Venetian town of Canea later grew on its site. In 1645 an Ottoman fleet arrived in the bay, opening the long war for Crete. Chania fell after a siege of nearly two months; the following year a Venetian fleet tried unsuccessfully to destroy the Ottoman ships anchored at its port.