For the restoration works underway since 2022 — now nearing completion — at Chania’s Central Market, the city’s emblematic, cross-shaped historic building, Panagiotis Simandirakis, Mayor of Chania, spoke to Voice of Greece and the program “Take Your Time.”
We met at the market and saw the works in progress, which, according to the Mayor, will be completed by Easter 2026, returning to the city its most iconic landmark, fully restored.
Built in 1913, based on the design of the corresponding market in Marseille, the Central Market evolved together with the city throughout the 20th century. It became inseparable from Chania’s commercial life, inevitably suffered the wear of time, and is now being restored to its original form — preserving its defining architectural features: the façades, the characteristic roof with its metal arches — while being reinforced with modern technologies and materials that will ensure greater structural resilience.
The market will retain its commercial character, as tenants will once again come from the food and catering sectors. Former shopkeepers — those who operated there until 2022, when the restoration began — will be given priority for re-leasing, especially after the delay caused by the discovery of the old Venetian wall in the building’s foundations.
Panagiotis Simandirakis speaks about the Market and also responds to questions concerning other interventions planned — or needed — across the city of Chania.
