The fort of Koules is located, 12km east of Chania, close to the ruins of ancient Aptera. The fort was built by the Turks after the Cretan Revolution of 1866, in the framework of a program to control Crete from a network of towers. The fortress was constructed by Hussein Avni Pasha, the Turkish governor of Crete and is a representative sample of the forting architecture of the 19th century. The fort was the largest fortification work of its era and included areas which were developed on a symmetrical shape Π, around a rectangular courtyard. The fort is closed but it is amazing viewpint over the Souda bay - huge mountains, rolling olive groves and sparkling coast.
