Maleme Chania Crete - a historic village

Maleme, Chania, is a small coastal village located just about one kilometer west of Pyrgos Psilonerou and Daphnis Villas. The village features a fine sandy beach.

Maleme is the perfect place to relax during your holidays, as it is more remote than the other known resorts in the area. It is ideal for couples and families.

The village and the beach of Maleme, Chania

Maleme is a nice traditional village. Inside the village, or on Maleme beach, you can find some taverns, cafes and bars. At the center of the village there is the known church of Agios Antonios (“St. Antonios”).

Maleme beach is long and sandy, and you can find sun beds and parasols in some parts of it. The more remote part of the beach is at its western edge, where the trees lie literally by the beach.

The area around Maleme, Chania, is very green with plenty of trees, especially olive groves and orange trees. The village is built on a hill between the small rivers of Tavronitis and Geranis.

Maleme, Chania, is a small coastal village located just about one kilometer west of Pyrgos Psilonerou and Daphnis Villas. The village features a fine sandy beach.

Maleme is the perfect place to relax during your holidays, as it is more remote than the other known resorts in the area. It is ideal for couples and families.

The village and the beach of Maleme, Chania

Maleme beach is long and sandy, and you can find sun beds and parasols in some parts of it. The more remote part of the beach is at its western edge, where the trees lie literally by the beach.

The area around Maleme, Chania, is very green with plenty of trees, especially olive groves and orange trees. The village is built on a hill between the small rivers of Tavronitis and Geranis.

Maleme, Chania – a village full of history

Maleme has associated its name with the adventures of Crete, and generally Greece, in World War II. At that time, there was strong resistance to the German forces in both mainland Greece and in Crete, which made Hitler use all the military he could send to the area.

Although the attack of the German forces during the so-called Battle of Crete was fierce, and used the state of the art military technology of those years and the dreaded German air forces, the brave resistance of the Cretan people made it very difficult for the German troops to land on the island. The Battle of Crete was one of the most violent and game-changing battles of World War II.

The most crucial fight of the Battle of Crete took place in the plain near Maleme, Chania. In 1941, one of the biggest airborne operations in World War II involved throwing thousands of German paratroopers from many airplanes in order to end the Battle of Crete sooner. The Cretan resistance and the locals encountered the occupational German forces with everything they could use, from old guns and tools to rocks and bare hands. Finally, the German forces managed to occupy the island of Crete, starting from Maleme, but the operation was slow and very costly to human lives in both sides.

Although at that time it was not so clear, the Battle of Crete and the specific fight in Maleme had seriously delayed the Nazi troops from entering the Soviet Union from the south. Many historians believe that this delay, which resulted to the German army entering the Soviet Union in winter, was one of the main reasons of the final defeat of Hitler in the Soviet Union.

In the area around Maleme there is today a local cemetery with a memorial for this fight, but also a German war cemetery (Deutscher Soldaten Friedhof), about 3 kilometers outside Maleme, Chania. About 5.000 German paratroopers, most of them young men, who lost their lives in the Maleme operation, have been laid to rest at this cemetery.