Tavronitis beach
The beach of Tavronitis is located 20km west of Chania, 1km north of Tavronitis village and on the west side of the historic airport of Maleme, the field of Battle of Crete. It is named after the homonym river Tavronitis, flowing in the area. The long beach in front of the village is a nice pebbly beach, being actually a small part of the vast beach that runs from Kolimbari and extends up to Stalos. This is ideal for swimming, especially on windless days, as waves in north coast of Crete is a common problem. Near the beach there are many hotels, tavernas and restaurants, while you can find almost every possible touristic facility.
As previously mentioned, the beach is near the airport of Maleme, where a heroic resistance against the Germans took place in 1941. This is the place of the famous Battle of Crete, when German troops invaded Crete with parachutes and airplanes. This is the first time in the history of World War II that German army faced a strong resistance from local people and suffered serious casualties. During the German invasion, the Germans managed to establish a small bridgehead east of the river Tavronitis and put the airport under their control. Today you can visit the German cemetery and several more monuments around commemorating that event.
