Welcome To Seafront Old Town
Sights
Rethymno is surrounded by the sea from the north. Rethymno’s beach is spreading from the center of the town, along the new part, for 12km, to the east. To the west, the palm-lined promenade (El. Venizelou str.) starts, with parallelly one block back going Arkadiou str., both leading to the picturesque old Venetian harbor of Rethymno and continuing (through the town’s harbor) to a rocky shore, along the Venetian fortress. From the waterfront turning inside the town, there is the old town of Rethymno, with narrow streets, Venetian and Turkish houses, minarets and fountains. The old part ends at Porta Guora and continues with newer buildings to the south, up to the hills.
The beautiful beach of Rethymno, is the main -and sometimes the exclusive- attraction for the visitors. But there are some interesting monuments and sights to visit:
Loggia
The most important surviving Venetian building. It was built in the middle of the 16th century as a gathering place of the nobility, for politics, economics or entertainment. The building is one of the characteristic examples of Renaissance architecture in Rethymno. During the Turkish occupation it was converted into a […]
Fortezza castle
At the place where the ancient acropolis was, the reference landmark of Rethymno and the largest fortress in Crete, it dominates the town, overlooking the sea and the town, offering wonderful views to the coast and the whole town. It was built in1573 by the Venetians, to protect the population […]
Ibrahim Han Mosque
A landmark of Rethymno, inside Fortezza. Originally the Cathedral of St. Nicolas, built in 1583 during the Venetian possession, the church was converted into a mosque during the Turkish occupation in 1648, by the Sultan Ibrahim Khan. Its impressive semi-spherical 11m diameter dome is one of the largest in Greece. […]
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