Our School in Chania

The director and the teaching team of the School of Greek Language & Culture “Alexander the Great” in Chania invite you to visit and go sightseeing in the beautiful city of our island!

Chania is in holiday mood throughout the year. Whichever season you choose to visit us, Chania has always something beautiful and warm to offer you.
Apart from the Greek language lessons, you can organise excursions all over Crete. During summertime we suggest you visit Elafonisi, Falaserna and Soygia to go swimming, cross the gorge of Samaria, visit Palaiohora to eat fresh fish and enjoy your coffee at Kolympari, and, if you want to buy souvenirs, Platanias and the Old Harbour are the best places to do that. The winter in Chania is not cold. So, anyone can go on a wintry excursion by car. You could reach the shelters of Omalos, visit the taverns of Therisos. If you are interested in the past and traditions of Crete, the traditional settlement “Milia” is waiting for you to discover it. You can also visit the mountainous villages of Apokoronas, see how the locals produce olive oil and taste the traditional Cretan cuisine. If, on the other hand, you want to stay in the city of Chania, you can go for a walk in the old harbour. At the weekends, small taverns with amazing food and live Greek music are waiting for you, so you can taste some of our cuisine and experience our culture. In the afternoons, you can enjoy your coffee at Akrotiri, the highest point of Chania, visit the grave of Eleftherios Venizelos and enjoy the view from that place.

The School is located in 92, Selinou Str. on the first floor, in the area of Nea Chora in the west of the town of Chania. It is about 100 metres from the beautiful organized beach of Nea Chora and the busy strip of road with the best fish taverns in town. The center of the town is 10 minutes walking distance and there is also public transportation every 15 minutes.

%cf%87%ce%b1%cf%81%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%83-%cf%87%ce%b1%ce%bd%ce%b9%ce%b1-768x419

The school operates in a renovated residence and offers two classrooms (the Green Room and the Orange room) as well as a computer lab with Wi-Fi. There is also a spacious kitchen with a refrigerator and a filter coffee maker and of course, a gas fire for making the famous Greek coffee.

Chania is always a magical city, no matter which season you choose to visit it!
We are waiting for you, so that you can learn the Greek language and discover, at the same time, the beauties of Chania!

Sights of the city

Let’s start from the Public Market, which was founded in 1911 and inaugurated by Eleftherios Venizelos in 1913. It is a building with a cross-shaped pattern, similar to the market of Marseilles. Going down Chalidon Street we can find the Archaeological Museum, the catholic temple of Assumption of Mary and the Metropolis of Chania, dedicated to the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We arrive at the Fountain. It is a square full of cafeterias and restaurants, the heart of the Venetian port. On the right, we go up towards the area Kasteli, where we can see the ruins of the ancient settlement of Kidonia. On the left side, an area with quaint little streets begins. There are the neighborhoods of Topanas (an old gun storehouse) and Ovriaki, where you can also see the Jewish Synagogue. At the far left side of the port is the fort Firkas, where the Navy Museum is also located. Opposite the entrance of the port one can see the Venetian lighthouse, built by Venetians in 1570. If we keep walking right at the beach and pass by the parapet of Santa Lucia, the big Arsenali and the Neoria, we will end up in the area of Splantzia. There, we can see the temple of Saint Nikolas, where the Turks have added a minaret, and the Venetian church of Saint Rocco. In front of the church of Saint Nikolas, at the square of Splantzia, is also the big sycamore tree, where they used to hang Christian prisoners sentenced to death. Even further, on the right side of Splantza, we can visit the Koum Kapi beach, a popular place for relaxation, especially for young people.
Other places of interest in the city are the house of Eleftherios Venizelos in Chalepa, the old residence of Prince George and the Russian–style church of Saint Magdalene, gifted to the city of Chania by Duchess Maria in 1909. The Public Gardens are also worth a visit, designed according to European Standards by Reuf Pasha in 1870 including a cafeteria (since 1905) and an open-roof cinema.
At the Dikastirion (Court) Square, the Court Manor houses the Prefectorial Offices and the Courthouses. A few chilometers outside the city, in the area of Akrotiri (Cape), there is a small church, dedicated to the prophet Elias, where are also the tombs of the Venizelos family.

Tsikoudia in October

Throughout Crete – and of course in Chania too – as soon as September begins, all the Cretans start their big celebrations!
At the beginning of September, all the locals go to their vineyards, along with their families, and they start gathering grapes. At the evening they press on the grapes and they start the wine-making procedure.
All the generations are included in this, from the younger to the eldest ones! They all get inside a big barrel and start stepping and squeezing on the grapes, to make must (fresh and unripe wine).
Next day, they collect the remnants of the grapes and place them inside barrels or big pots. They press on them really hard and then seal them on top, so as to be airtight. After forty days, they open these barrels and the feast begins! They begin making the tsikoudia!
In every village there are usually 2-3 families who own cauldrons (“kazania”) to make tsikoudia. So, the whole village gathers up there to make it. The person who has the cauldron must be very careful, because otherwise the tsikoudia might be ruined, have a bad taste or a yellowish colour.
The person who brings his own grapes will not have to pay anything for the procedure, as long as he brings along the necessary wood to start the fire under the cauldron and, of course, mezedes to treat everyone while waiting for the tsikoudia to boil.
So, we want to invite you all to this small feast, throughout October, where you will experience Cretan traditions and the making of tsikoudia!