Splantzia Plane Tree
In the center of Splantzia Square (square 1821) in Chania stands out the huge plane tree that is connected to the dramatic moments of the Cretan people for liberation. On the plane tree during the Ottoman domination, Greek Christians, who fought for the Cretan freedom, were hanged, executed and tortured. The square hosts a memorial plate in their memory.
One of the most well-known dramas took place in the early days of the Great Revolution in mainland Greece (1821), when the Ottomans, worried about the prospect of moving the revolution to the island, hanged the bishop of Kissamos Melchizedek Despotakis on May 19, 1821, after having been hung and then dragged by the Ottoman mob into the narrow streets of the town. The same thing happened to the priest from Veria, Kallinikos.
Underneath the plane-tree there was an octagonal Arabian gazebo, in which the state's prominent beys were allowed to sit and enjoy their coffee.
