The name Chania is a corruption of an older word Cydonia which means quince. It is speculated by John Freely that the name Cydonia was applied to the people of the region instead of the city because of the quince's place in literature and the name stuck. The name then became synonymous for Cretan and is mentioned in Sapho and Homer.

   Chania has been inhabited since Neolithic times, and shares much of the same history of the rest of the island. A high hill near the harbor appears to have the remains a Minoan palace which was built upon by succeeding conquers of the town: Mycenians, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and finally the Turks. The Mycenas and the Romans seem to have been happy with building upon this hill, thus covering much of the Minoan ruins. The Byzantines neglected the town and Venetians, worried about Turkish pirates, expanded the fortifications and built a fortress to contain the town, the arsenals, and the harbor.

  The Turks, being Turks, finally did attack Crete and Chania. The town fell the Turks just under two months. The Turks eventually moved the capital of the island to Chania.

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