Souda

Souda is a town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 22.007 km2 (8.497 sq mi). It is an important ferry and naval port at the head of Souda Bay. Souda is 6.5 kilometres (4.0 miles) to the east of central Chania, although the area in between is mostly built-up. The town is a relatively new settlement, built on what used to be salt beds and marshland. The Turks knew the area as 'Tuzla', their name for salt-beds. In the 1870s, they began to build a new settlement here which grew as the port expanded.