Address: Parados Kondylaki, 730 11, Hania, Crete, Hellas (GR); Tel: +30 28210 862 86.
Open: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Directions: The synagogue can be reached by walking up Kondylaki Street from the harbour and taking the second turn to the right; please check also the map icon bellow. This street is only about 25 meters long and leads to a cross street with no other exits. On reaching that intersection, the stone wall and entrance to the courtyard of the synagogue are directly in front of you.
Until 1999 Etz Hayyim was a desecrated house of prayer that remained the sole Jewish monument on the Island of Crete after the destruction of Crete‘s Jewish community in 1944. Essentially it stood as a monument to the success of the Nazis in obliterating 2300 years of Jewish life on the Island of Crete. Between 1996 and the year of its re-dedication in 1999, the structure was painstakingly restored. The philosophy that directed this work is summed up in the Hebrew Am Israel Hayy:’The people of Israel Live’. Today it stands as a vibrant statement of Jewish life, vitality and values, whereas until recently it was still mentioned on the World Monument Fund’s list of most endangered sites.