Morning in Xania

This morning we spent a couple of hours in Xania. It was great to see more of the city especially the older parts that had interesting streets and shops around every corner. We also got a chance to visit the synagogue located in Xania. Not only was this monument beautifully kept, it has a deep and sad history. The years of religious persecution against the Jewish population in Greece has decimated this small but significant community. From the Venetians to the German occupation, Jews were targeted, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. This Synagogue has survived so many attacks in its history and it really symbolizes what the island of Crete has dealt with. The island is constantly occupied because of its significance in location, and this has real impacts on the people that live here. Even more so for the perceived outsiders in the society. It was hard to listen to the abuses against an innocent community, but the synagogue was also a symbol for the perseverance of the Greek and specifically Cretan people to rebuild after disaster time and time again.