Rethymno is a city of approximately 40,000 people in Greece, the capital of Rethymno Prefecture in the island of Crete. It was built in antiquity (ancient Rithymna and Arsinoe), even though was never a competitive Minoan center. It was, however, strong enough to mint its own coins and maintain urban growth. One of these coins is today depicted as the crest of the town with two dolphins in a circle.

This region as a whole is rich with ancient history, most notably through the Minoan civilisation centred at Kydonia east of Rethymno Rethymno itself began a period of growth when the Venetian conquerors of the island decided to put an intermediate commercial station between Heraklion and Chania, acquiring its own bishop and nobility in the process. Today's old town (palaia poli) is almost entirely built by Venetians. It is one of the best preserved old towns in Crete.
The town still maintains its old aristocratic appearance, with its buildings dating from the 16th century, arched doorways, stone staircases, Byzantine and Hellenic-Roman remains, small Venetian harbor and narrow streets. The Venetian Loggia today houses the information office of the ministry of culture. The Wine Festival is held there annually at the beginning of July. Another festival is held on 7-8th of November, in memory of the destruction of Arkadi Monastery.
It has a large Venetian castle called the Fortezza, one of the best preserved castles in Crete. Other monuments include the Neratze mosque (the Municipal Odeon arts centre), the Great Gate (megali porta, Porta Guora), the Piazza Rimondi (Rimondi square) and the Venetian Loggia.
As part of the Crete island, the town was also captured by Turks in 1600s and ruled more than 3 centuries. Turkish version of Rethymnon is Resmo.

Today its main income is from tourism, many new facilities having been built in the past 20 years. Agriculture is also notable, especially for olive oil and other Mediterranean products. It is also the base of the Philosophical School and the University Library of the University of Crete island and the School of Social and Political Sciences having 8000 students on its University Campus per annum at "Galos", where the Academic Institute of Mediterranean Studies is situated. The city has an Archaeological Museum.
Rethymno’s harbour area is a fine place for a coffee at one of the cafes and perhaps you will chance to eat there, just for the atmosphere. Look out from the harbour edge at the state of the buildings and seeing the abuse of this historic area you may be disappointed - perhaps you should suggest a renovation or two!
But not to worry, there is much else to see and enjoy, no shortage of other places of great character to stroll, stop in cafes, eat and generally enjoy the enormous amount Rethymno offers you.
The Fortress dominates the city and makes Rethymno very photogenic, its pedestrian streets below, strewn with charming old buildings. Venetian influences abound and the minarets and domed mosques remind of the Turkish influence long gone. Numerous shops for souvenirs (with many local products now available), trendy fashion or imaginative jewellery...the old and the modern combine to make a colourful and buzzing town.
Rethymno combines rarely united features: the old town's charm and history, with proximity to a long sandy beach. You can enjoy arriving by ferry and be "right there" close to the centre of the Old Town, just a 5 minute walk away (newly built harbours on many Greek islands are now far from the center, removing the romance of arriving IN the place you are visiting!).

There are two sides to Rethymno offering two styles of visit: the endless big beach hotel strip that stretches from the east end of Rethymno, lapping up the coastal "villages" of Perivolia, Platanias, Adellianos Kambos, Pigianos Kambos, Sfakaki, Stavromenos and Skalleta - and - the Rethymno that allows you the character of the old town with its mix of architecture and history, cultural influences and styles ranging from Venetian to Ottoman empire.
We present the second and more romantic choice - leaving the all-inclusive beach and booze tours to others.

Before leaving the beach, we should mention that there are other visitors - the turtles. Turtles are regular visitors along the beaches of Rethymno and return between June and August to lay their eggs each year