Χανιά

From Byzantine Greek Χανιά (Khaniá), from Arabic الخان (al-ḵān) + -ιά (-iá, “-ia: forming place names”), literally from ال (al-, “the, place of the”) + خان (ḵān, “caravanserai, inn”) but possibly transliterating a neighborhood whose named derived from its former importance in the worship of the Minoan god Velchanos, whose Minoan name was transcribed into Ancient Greek as Ϝελχάνος (Welkhános).

• IPA^(key): /xaˈɲa/

Χανιά • (Chaniá) n pl

1. Chania (a city, the capital of Chania regional unit, on the island of Crete, Greece)
2. Chania (a regional unit of Crete, around the city)

• English: Hania

• Nikolaos Platon (1947), Κρητικά Χρονικά Α [Kretika Chronika 1].