Qualla: Siege of Chania (1645) https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Siege of Chania (1645) https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645 Siege of Chania (1645): Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. Silahdar Yusuf Pasha sailed from Istanbul on April 30, 1645, at the head of 416 ships and roughly 50,000 men, including 7,000 janissaries. He stopped at the Venetian island of Tinos for water and provisions, then put in at Navarino for three weeks, picking up Tripolitan and Tunisian fleets along the way. Venice watched the assembly with growing alarm and concluded, almost certainly correctly, that the target had to be Malta. It was not Malta. Yusuf revealed the true destination to his commanders only after the fleet had sailed again, and on June 23 the Ottoman armada appeared in the bay of Chania on the northwest coast of Crete. The war that opened that morning would last 24 years.

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Chania (1645): The Lighthouse Keeper Who Blew Himself Up https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. The first action took place at Agioi Theodoroi, a small island guarding the approach to Chania. Defending it was the Venetian commander Blasio Zulian, with 30 men and a few poor cannons. They held off the first ships and managed to sink two of them. When it became obvious the pos...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-the-lighthouse-keeper-who-blew-himself-up.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Chania (1645): Around the Walls https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. The Ottomans landed on June 27, encamping on the hillsides above the city and seizing the harbor. They put 7,000 janissaries ashore, plus 14,000 Sipahi cavalry, 3,000 sappers, and thousands of Timariot horse. The Venetian garrison numbered around 12,000, but it was an inadequatel...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-around-the-walls.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Chania (1645): Surrender on the Fifty-sixth Day https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. The defenders held for 56 days. On August 22, the Venetian command surrendered. The terms were generous by the conventions of the era: the garrison was allowed to march out unharmed for Souda, four days later the Ottomans entered, and the city itself was spared the worst of a sac...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-surrender-on-the-fifty-sixth-day.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Chania (1645): The Relief That Came When It Could Not Help https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. Niccolo Ludovisi, the papal captain-general, commanded the Christian relief fleet. By the time he reached the area, Chania was already Ottoman. Modern historians have argued that a vigorous attack on the newly-installed garrison might still have saved Crete from the long catastro...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-the-relief-that-came-when-it-could-not-help.mp3 0:06 5 full Siege of Chania (1645): What the Surrender Bought https://qualla.com/siege-of-chania-1645/ Photo credit Andrea Valiero, Public domain. For the residents of Chania, what mattered was who they would now answer to. Many Greek Orthodox Cretans had long resented Venetian rule and the Latin Church, and the Ottoman administration brought a kind of religious accommodation absent under Venice. Many converted to Islam in ...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/3/4/siege-of-chania-1645-wp/sw34-siege-of-chania-1645-what-the-surrender-bought.mp3 0:06 6 full