Etz Hayyim Synagogue

A restored 15th-century synagogue in the old Jewish quarter, the only functioning synagogue in Crete

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue stands in the old Jewish quarter (Evraiki) of the Venetian city, a few streets back from the harbour. The building dates from the 15th century, built over the remains of a Byzantine church, and was used continuously as a synagogue until the extermination of Hania's Jewish community in 1944. It was restored in the 1990s through international fundraising and is now an active synagogue and memorial.

The interior is small and beautifully maintained: a wooden bimah in the centre, Hebrew inscriptions on the walls, and a mikveh (ritual bath) in the basement. The courtyard contains memorial plaques. It is open to visitors most mornings and the custodians are knowledgeable and welcoming. One of the most moving and historically significant sites in western Crete.

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A story
The Jewish community of Hania was one of the oldest in the Mediterranean — descending from Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. In June 1944, the entire Jewish community of Crete, around 270 people, were arrested by the Germans and loaded onto a boat called the Tanais for deportation to Auschwitz. The boat was torpedoed and sunk in the Aegean — by an Allied submarine that did not know it was carrying prisoners. There were no survivors.