title: Gulf of Chania
text: # Gulf of Chania
  
  The Gulf of Chania is an embayment of the Sea of Crete in the northwestern region of the island of Crete in present-day Greece. One headland forming the Gulf of Chania is the promontory known as the Akrotiri Peninsula.
  
  ## Ancient history
  
  In prehistory the powerful city of Kydonia commanded the Gulf of Chania and was a center of early Cretan art and culture in western Crete. By 74 BC the city-state of Kydonia fended off an attack by Rome in a naval battle in the Gulf of Chania.
  
  