Metochi Siriliou

Metochi Siriliou is a village located 23 km from the center in Chania and just 700 meters from the settlement of Sirili, a distance that can be easily covered on foot. The houses surround the central square that has a traditional cafe, a fountain and a playground.

The building from which the village took its name is a fortress dating from the Venetian era, so it retains elements of exceptional architectural beauty. Successive stone arches lead to the atrium space.

It is an imposing duplex building with huge carved stones, built on sloping surface at the corners, in order to prevent the moisture from altering the building and to enhance the structural rigidity. On one of these stones (known in the Cretan dialect as Kadunades) there is still the Venetian coat of arms.

The central church of the settlement is the temple of St. John the Theologian.

At Metochi Siriliou there are several shelters dating from German occupation and one of them still survives intact on the hill south of the village.