Allies'; Cemetery
The cemetery was built in order to embody the graves of all the soldiers that were killed in Crete and fought for the Commonwealth, there for Commonwealth financed both its construction and maintenance. The architect was Louis De Soissons
According to relative descriptions, the land, where the Cemetery lies, was donated by Greek People for the ";eternal rest of Sailors, Soldiers and Pilots, that are honored here. The burial in the Cemetery are: United Kingdom 862 bodies, Canada 5 bodies, Australia 197 bodies, New Zealand 446 bodies, South Africa 9, India 1, Rest 7, Total 1527." The soldiers in unanimous graves are being commemorated at Faliro (Attica), where lies the monument of the Polemic Cemetery.
Islet of Souda
At the north-east side of the port of Souda lies the islet of Souda, where rises ";Fortetza";, a fort built in 1571 a.C. by the Venetians, who desired to control the gulf. Basilcata mentions that the power of the fort during 1630 was 44 cannons and 9185 cannon-balls.
The walls encircled the whole island. At the North side was the rampant ";Martinengo"; and ";Μichiel";. Between them, a small door led to the lower part of the islet, where were located the cemetery, the rampant ";Mocenigo"; and a water tank.
At the east side of the islet were the soldiers'; camps and in front of them three water tanks, the food depots, a garden and the church of ";La Madonnina";. At the south-west side were the rampant Orsino and the gate of the fort. At the west side were three water tanks, the magazine, the training grounds and a windmill.
When the Turks took over Crete, in 1669, they did not take over the small fort. Therefore, the islet of Souda became a shelter for Cretan rebels until 1715, when it did come under Turks'; control.
The fort of Souda has joined the program ";Circumnavigation of Castles";, which is being held by Greek Ministry of Culture. This program involves the execution of valuable tasks of maintenance and repair at the fort.
Ancient Aptera
The islet of Souda, apart from its historical significance, resembles great ecological interest, since it is a shelter for some of the rarest plants of Crete';s flora.
What is more, the extant wall of the city extends to a length of almost four kilometers. Besides the wall, the most impressive extant archaeological buildings are the arched Roman tanks, the know as ";two-parted sanctuary"; dated at the 5th or 4th century b.C. as well as the small ruined theater which bears sculptured cornices. Representative founds (vases, coins, statuettes, inscriptions, statues etc) are being exposed at the archaeological Museum in Chania.
Along with the other monuments, two forts of great historical interest are also extant. They were constructed during the period of Turkish domination and are known as the fort ";Palekastro";, which was built by the Turks after the Revolution of 1866, and the fort ";Itzedin";, which was built during 1872 at the region of Kalami, and included soldiers'; camps, hospital and other facilities.
The construction of ";Itzedin"; was the will of Pasha Reouf and was built at the very same place were the Turks made a tower after they first banished the Venetians. It was thought to be one of the most important defensive facilities of the port and took its name after de first son of the sultan Avdoul Aziz Itzedin. Later, it was used mostly as prison.
After Cretans banished Turks and founded their own state, E. Venizelos himself got to know how inhospitable that prison was, as he was captured and held there after his quarrel with Prince George. The fort was lastly used as prison for political prisoners, a role that inspired works of literature and cinema too. The movies ";Days of 36"; and ";Stone Age"; basically refer to Itzedin, which is also shown in both films.
The ";Palekastro";, also known as ";Coules Apteron";, is a representative sample of architecture in the 19th century.
SOURCE:Municipality of Souda
