The Old Town with its narrow lanes built within Venetian walls is an important stop on a walk through the culture and civilization of Rethymnon with its archeological sites, museums, historical monuments and private art collections.
Rethymnon:
Rethymnon or Rethymno, like we call it in Greek, is situated at the northern coast of the beautiful and large island of Crete about in the middle between the two large cities Hania (58 km West) and Heraklion (which we call Iraklio, 79 km East).
About 40.000 habitants are living in the city of Rethymnon today. The Prefecture of Rethymnon, which extends to the southern coast and its Holiday centers of Agia Galini and Plakias, has about 73.000 habitants.
Rethymnon is the only town on the island, which is built on a cape. This piece of land, which looms about 700 m into the Cretan Sea, catches the sight of the surprised visitor, who is coming from one of the two neighboring towns or descending from the mountainous area of the interior and looking down on the city.
The minarets, the old lighthouse, the bell towers of the countless churches and especially the large Venetian caste "Fortezza", which dominates the town, have inspired thousands of visitors to pause and take a picture.
The Old Town
with its narrow lanes built within Venetian walls is an important stop on a walk through the culture and civilization of Rethymnon with its archeological sites, museums, historical monuments and private art collections.
Everywhere in Rethymnon, a town which was continuously inhabited since the Late Minoan Times, you can find traces of great cultures: The Minoan Crete, the Byzantine Age, the Venetian Time and the Turkish occupation.
The University of Crete, which has been divided between Rethymnon and Heraklion, hosts the philosophical, pedagogical and sociological faculties. A college for graphic arts has also been established in Rethymnon, as have institutes for job training.
Rethymnon, which is also called the cultural capital of Crete, has its own symphony orchestra and choir. The municipality organizes every year the Renaissance Festival with theater events and concerts of classical music, with the participation of national and international known artists.
In the South of Rethymnon the foothills of the White Mountains and the Mount Ida are rising to the heights of Vrisina (858 m). The northern border is the Cretan Sea with a 4 km sandy beach. This beach is continuing outside of the city borders and is building the longest beach of the island with length of
12 km.
Rethymnon and its suburban area provide a large number of hotel units of all categories as well as tourist facilities of all kind. Many thousand tourists from Greece and all over the world are coming to Rethymnon every year from April to October to enjoy their holidays under the Cretan sun and swim in the cleanest waters of the Mediterranean.
Rethymnon is connected to the Greek main land and the world by its ferryboat harbor and the northern National Road to the airports of Hania and Heraklion.