Sights - Chania Prefecture - Akrotiri

  The Profitis Ilias Hill

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On the western slope of Akrotiri is a park with various memorials and a breathtaking view over Chania.

The hill is called Profitis Ilias and is named after a monastery, once situated here. Now you find only the church, which was rebuilt on Russian orders after the bombardment in 1897.

 

 

The inscription above the door of the Profitis Ilias church:
Church of Profitis Ilias from 16th century.
Renovated by his highness tsar Nikolai 2nd
and repaired in 1936 by Ioannis Iliakis.


The hill is moreover known for its importance during the rebellion against the Turks. While the Turks in January 1897 carried out massacres on the Christian population in Chania and set several parts of the town on fire, and the navy of the great powers stayed passively anchored outside the harbour, the Revolutionary Committee of Akrotiri was gathered here under the leadership of Ioannis Sfakianakis and Eleftherios Venizelos.

 

Venizelos with rebels and representatives of the Great Powers

Chania after the
Turkish attack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without warning the international navy started to fire at the camp of the rebels. The Greek flag waving above the camp was hit and fell to the ground. One of the rebels, Spyros Kagialedakis, immediately caught hold of it and jumped up onto the highest rock with the flag in his outstretched hands. This caused the great powers to stop the firing.

 

The incident created such a sensation in all of Europe that they now, after half a century of passiveness, began to seriously work out a solution of the conflicts in Crete.
 

 

The island was occupied by the great powers, until it became autonomous - with prince George of Greece as the High Commissioner at first (1898-1906) and Alexandros Zaïmis later (1906-1908).

 

Eleftherios Venizelos and many others with him, were however not happy with this arrangement, and they worked for Crete being completely united with Greece, which happened on December 1st 1913.

 

 

 

A big statue of the goddess of liberty was set up in 1937, but is was partly destroyed during the German bombardments in World War II, and an earthquake some years later destroyed the remains of it.
 

In 1997 - on the 100th anniversary of the fighting in Akrotiri - a statue representing Kagialedakis with the flag was set up.

 

 

 

In front of the Profitis Ilias church are the graves of Eleftherios Venizelos and his son, Sofoklis.

 

 

Eleftherios Venizelos was probably one of the biggest politicians of modern Greece and as mentioned earlier, he played a crucial part in Crete's unification with Greece. Eleftherios Venizelos died in exile in Paris in 1936, but his coffin was taken to Chania and then buried in Akrotiri.

Venizelos' coffin is carried
from the harbour of Chania to Akrotiri.

 

 

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