CANEA or KHANIA, the principal seaport and, since 1841, the capital of Crete, finely situated on the northern coast of the island, about 25 m. from its western extremity, on the isthmus of the Akrotiri peninsula, which lies between the bay of Canea and the bay of Suda (latitude 35° N., longitude 24° I' E.) . Surrounded by a massive Venetian wall, it forms a closely built, irregular and overcrowded town, though of late years a few of its streets have been widened. Many houses are of wood ; but the more important buildings are of more solid materials. There are Turkish mosques, Greek churches and a Jewish synagogue ; a Venetian structure serves as a military hospital. The town is the seat of a Greek suffragan to the metropolitan at Candia, and the official residence of the European consuls. The harbour, formed by an ancient transverse mole nearly 1, 200 ft. long, and protected by a lighthouse and a fort, once admitted vessels of considerable tonnage, and has been partially dredged, but large vessels have to anchor outside, or make use of Suda bay. The principal articles of trade are oil, soap and leather. The fosse is laid out in vegetable gardens ; public gardens have been con structed outside the walls ; and artesian wells have been bored by the government. To the east of the town a large village was in habited, under Turkish rule, by natives of Egypt and Cyrenaica, boatmen, porters and servants, but most of these have quitted the island. About a mile off on rising ground is Khalepa, where the consuls and merchants reside. Canea probably occupies the site of the ancient Cydonia. During the Venetian rule it was one of the strongest cities in the island, but it fell into the hands of the Turks in 1646, several years before the capture of Candia. In 1856 it suffered from an earthquake. The neighbouring plain is famous for its fruitfulness, and the quince is said to derive its name Cydonia from the town. See also CRETE.