Souda

Souda (Greek: Σούδα) is a town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. It is an important ferry and naval port at the head of Souda Bay.

Souda is 6.5 kilometres (4.0 miles) to the east of central Chania, although the area in between is mostly built-up. The town is a relatively new settlement, built on what used to be salt beds and marshland. The Turks knew the area as 'Tuzla', their name for salt-beds. In the 1870s, they began to build a new settlement here which grew as the port expanded. Souda Bay is one of the deepest natural harbours in the Mediterranean and is easy to defend.

Now Souda is the arrival point for ferries from Piraeus. There is also a NATO naval base located in Souda and across the bay, with military accommodation and hospital in the town. Much of the command, particularly for US forces, is found across the bay on the Akrotiri. A grain silo overshadows the centre of town. Perhaps because of its nature as a departure point and military town, it is not popular with tourists and can appear seedy and threatening. However it is well-served with shops of all types and some renowned fish restaurants in the old centre. The Allied war cemetery, mostly of soldiers from World War II, is found in Souda on the shore. There are 1,527 graves, mostly British with 447 New Zealanders and 197 Australians. Buried in the cemetery is the archaeologist John Pendlebury. Pendlebury was the curator at Knossos for the British School in Athens and had been continuing excavations in Crete until the war. He was executed by the Germans in 1941 whilst working for British Intelligence.

Souda (disambiguation)

Souda, alternative spelling Suda (Greek: Σοῦδα), can refer to:

Souda (island)

Souda (Greek: Σούδα) is an islet in Souda Bay on the northwest coast of Crete. In ancient times this islet was one of two islets that were referred to as Leukai. The second islet is known today as Leon.

History

The island was fortified by the Venetians due to its strategic location, controlling the entrance to the anchorage of Souda Bay (which is still an important Greek and NATO naval base). Although the rest of Crete fell to Ottoman control in the Cretan War (1645–1669), the fortress of Souda (along with the island fortresses of Gramvousa and Spinalonga) remained in Venetian hands until 1715, when they too fell to the Ottomans. During this time, the island served as a refuge for Cretan insurgents.

Musical contest between the Sirens and the Muses

On the northwest side of the islet, a small distance away, there is another islet which is almost round in shape, which used to be referred to on medieval Venetian maps as Rabbit Island (known as Nisi and Leon today). In ancient times these two islets were referred to as Leukai (Greek for "white ones"). Their name came from the ancient Greek myth about a musical contest between the Sirens and the Muses. Out of their anguish from losing the competition, writes Stephanus of Byzantium, the Muses plucked their rivals' feathers from their wings; the Sirens turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera ("wingless") where they formed the islands in the bay that were called Lefkai.