Chania or Hania As Seen From Malaxa Mountain | 17 Nov 2016
35.4651° N, 24.0732° E
Many lines have been written by travelers both from Greece and overseas to praise the beauty of their favourite destination, namely Hania or as it widely spelled Chania. However, many non – Greek speakers are confused, admittedly not without a valid reason, on how to pronounce the name of the city and the greater region. During the time Venetians ruled Crete, the city was known as ‘La Canea’ and probably this is the reason why “C” was added on the beginning of the name. In Greek, the city’s name is written as ‘Χανιά’ (hahn-yáh) with the ‘X’ (pronounced as ‘hee’) being closer to the English ‘H’ in terms of pronunciation. The Greek capital ‘Χ’ and thus ‘Ch’ for Chania, is not pronounced like ‘chew’ but rather as in 'Bach'. When you pronounce the name of the city, ‘C’ is silent, the name starts with a strong ‘H’ and you stress the last ‘a’ (Haniá). Fortunately, no matter how different people call the city and the region on the west end of Crete, its beauty as you can see on the photo taken from the mountain of Malaxa above the city’s skyline does not change.