Chania County, Greece Genealogy
Guide to Chania County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
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Contents
History[edit | edit source]
Chania is one of the four regional units of Crete; it covers the westernmost quarter of the island and its capital is the city of Chania.
Chania borders only one other regional unit: that of Rethymno to the east. The western part of Crete is bounded to the north by the Cretan Sea, and to the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea. The regional unit also includes the southernmost island of Europe, Gavdos.
Chania (Wikipedia)
Geography[edit | edit source]
Chania (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Χανίων) is one of the four regional units of Crete; it covers the westernmost quarter of the island. Its capital is the city of Chania. Chania borders only one other regional unit: that of Rethymno to the east. The western part of Crete is bounded to the north by the Cretan Sea, and to the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea. The regional unit also includes the southernmost island of Europe, Gavdos. The Chania prefecture (Greek: Νομός Χανίων) was created while Crete was still an autonomous state, and was preserved after the island joined Greece in 1913. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the Chania regional unit was created out of the former prefecture. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganized, according to the table below. Chania, Wikipedia
Municipalities[edit | edit source]
Most of the research you do will be at the municipality level, by contacting the Mayor's Office of the municipality.
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Villages[edit | edit source]
Municipal Archives[edit | edit source]
Quite comprehensive records for your family, perhaps for several generations, are kept by the mayor's office of each municipality. Civil registers of birth, marriage, and death since 1925 are kept there. In addition, an important record, unique to Greece, the Dimologion is similar to a "family group record". Census records, contracts, and other records can be found.
Information About Important Records in Municipality Archives[edit | edit source]
Click on the links for an explanation on the types of records you will look for at the municipality level.
- Modern Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers
- Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon)
- Town (Resident) Registers (Dimotologion)
Writing to Municipal Archives[edit | edit source]
- Municipality addresses for Chania County
- Form Letters to the Mayor of a Municipality
- Asking for a Birth record
- Asking for a Death record
- Asking for Family Structure (Dimitologion)
- Follow up Thank You letter
Greek National Archives, and County Archives[edit | edit source]
- The Greek National Archives (GAK or GSA) has a central office in Athens, and local offices throughout Greece. These offices have copies of Male Registers, Town (Resident) Registers, School Records, and other documents of interest to family historians. Civil registers are not preserved in the Central Service (CS). Some records are online. Others are not online, but the staff will search them for you upon request.
Central Archive[edit | edit source]
General State Archives (GSC)
Dafni 61
15452 Psychiko
Greece
Phone:+30 210-6782200
FAX:+30 210-6782215
E-mail:archives@gak.gr
ARCHIVE OF CRETE
Jn. Sfakianaki 20
73134 Chania
Greece
Phone: 28210-52606
Fax: 28210-52606
E-mail: history@gak.chan.sch.gr
Writing to Archives[edit | edit source]
Again, not all records will be online. You can write and request searches for records. Instructions, form letters, and their translations are found here.
- Form Letters to the Greek National Archives (GAK)
- Requesting Birth information
- Requesting Marriage information
- Requesting information about the family structure and death of an ancestor
- Follow up Thank You letter
Greek Orthodox Church Records[edit | edit source]
Important Church Records[edit | edit source]
- Book of Births: date of birth, place of birth, gender, name, surname, father’s name, date of baptism, godfather and priest, notes
- Book of Marriages: date of marriage, groom’s name, groom’s age, groom’s father’s name, groom’s mother’s name, bride’s name, bride’s age, bride’s father’s name, bride’s mother’s name, priest, place of birth, notes
- Book of Deaths: date of death, name of the deceased, father’s name, age, notes
Writing to a Diocese[edit | edit source]
Records may be either at the diocese archives or still at the local parish church. Usually only the most recent records are still at the parish.
- Contact information for the Diocese of Kydonia and Apokoronos
- Contact information for the Diocese of Lambi and Sfakia
- Contact information for the Diocese of Kissamos and Selino
Information on addressing the letter, enclosing money, and a form letter in Greek, with its English translation are found in this .pdf:
- Form Letter to a Diocese
- Asking for a Marriage record
- Follow up Thank You letter
How to Read the Records[edit | edit source]
You do not have to be fluent in Greek to read and understand these records! Only a few vocabulary words are involved. True, the alphabet is different. But you learned one alphabet, and you can learn another alphabet!
- Greece Handwriting and Text will teach you the alphabet in print and handwriting and give you some computer translation tools.
- The article, This simple Greek Word List, features a short list of key terms. You should learn to recognize these.
- Other words will be used on a "look it up when you come to it" basis. For this, more thorough word lists can be found at :
