Drapanias () is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in northwestern

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, in the regional unit of Chania. It was the principal town in the Cretan municipality of

Kissamos Kissamos () is a town and a municipality in the west of the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the Chania regional unit and of the former Kissamos Province which covers the northwest corner of the island. The town of Kissamos is also known as ...

. It was built in the ruins of the ancient town of

Methymna Mithymna () (, also sometimes spelled ''Methymna'') is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality of West Lesbos, of which it is a municip ...

. The nearby village of Ano Drapanias ("Upper Drapanias") is sometimes considered to be part of Drapanias, with the northern beachside areas being referred to as Kato Drapanias ("Lower Drapanias"). Frequent KTEL buses connect the village with various locations, such as

and

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

. The village and its people are memorialized in several works by the Cretan author Kimon Faradakis.

Population

History

Evidence of settlements at Drapanias dates back to circa 1600 BCE during the Greek Bronze Age, at the

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

archaeological site of Nopigeia-Drapanias. Drapanias is also considered to be a possible site of the Cretan city of

, a settlement that survived into Roman times as well. A

Roman bath In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughou ...

on the site subsequently had a church dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

built into it, which has wall paintings dating to the early 15th century CE. Along with the rest of Crete, from 1205 to 1669, Drapanias was under the control of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

under the

Kingdom of Candia The Realm or Kingdom of Candia (; ; ) or Duchy of Candia (; ; ) was the official name of Crete during the island's period as an Stato da Màr, overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, from the initial Venetian conquest in 1205–1212 to its fal ...

. During this period, the Villa Trevisan was constructed outside the village limits. Other surviving sites in the village include a tower and well dating to the

Ottoman Greek Ottoman Greeks (; ) were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), much of which is in modern Turkey. Ottoman Greeks were Greek Orthodox Christians who belonged to the Rum Millet (''Millet-i Rum''). They were concentrated in ...

period. During the 1821

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, the ship ''Terpsichore'' landed at Drapanias in order to besiege the Venetian fortress at Kissamos, which was ultimately successful in restoring Crete to Greek rule. After the 2011 local government reform, Drapanias, which had been the seat of municipality of Mythimna, became part of the municipality of

as the Mythimna municipality was absorbed into it. On January 25, 2022, the Egyptian freighter ''Manassa Rose M'' ran aground on the beach in the village and subsequently broke into two pieces. File:Island of Crete, Greece.JPG, Crete from Satellite File:2339 kissamos-kastelli.jpg, Kissamos

References

Populated places in Chania (regional unit) Kissamos {{Crete-geo-stub