Travel Guide Paleochora - Palaiochora

Located on the south coast about 70 km from Hania, the small town of Paleohora lies in the middle of a peninsula that ends southwards with a promontory on which was built around 1275 by the Venetians a castle, the Selino Kastelli. This castle gave its name, Selino, to the district of Paleohora, even though it was destroyed in 1539 by the pirate Barbarossa. Today, only a few ruins remain, perched above Paleohora, from where the view is remarkable: to the west stretches the long sandy beach (Sandy Beach - Pachia Ammos), to the east another pebble beach (Pebble Beach - Chalikia) and in the distance the mountainous foothills of the Lefka Ori, with the cape Flomes (also called cape Crocodile because of its shape). To the south of the village, a harbor was built with the intention of becoming a marina for yachtsmen. However, few sailboats navigate these particularly inhospitable waters: there are very few shelters on the whole southern coast of Crete and the meltemi from the north or the sirocco from the south can be particularly violent. Below the castle, on the east side, lies the Gaviotika neighborhood built at the beginning of the 20th century by the inhabitants of the island of Gavdos who came to take refuge on the mainland. You can still see some of these rough houses while walking through the narrow streets of the neighborhood. During the last war, Paleohora was occupied by the Germans because of its strategic position, opposite Libya, to support Rommel's aims in Africa. In the 1960s and 1970s, Paleohora was somehow rediscovered by world travelers and hippies of different nationalities. The town, which was then just a small village with a few taverns, gradually developed to accommodate more conventional tourism. It is one of the few places that functions (albeit in slow motion) all year round and where a community of foreigners lives, or spends the winter months, to enjoy the Cretan rhythm of life and the mild climate.