Chania: 20.4m euro tender for the Venetian Shipyards

The project to restore the seven Venetian Shipyards in the Old Town of Chania has gone out to international tender, with the Municipality of Chania as the contracting authority. According to Flashnews, the project’s budget stands at 20.39 million euros including VAT, or 16.44 million euros excluding VAT. Funding was secured by decision of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, through inclusion in the “Environment and Climate Change 2021-2027” Program. Due to the size of the budget, the notice was first published in the Official Journal of the European Union, as required by EU legislation on public contracts above the minimum thresholds, with publication in Greece to follow in the coming days. The deadline for receiving bids is October 20, 2026.

The timeline set out in the notice is long. The project’s start date is set as October 1, 2027, and its duration is estimated at 36 months, placing completion in 2030. The complex covers an area of approximately 4,175 square meters and consists of seven stone, vaulted structures, each roughly fifty meters long, nine meters wide, and ten meters high on average. The Shipyards were built during the period of Venetian rule for the maintenance and mooring of warships and are today one of the most recognizable features of the Venetian harbor. Of the original complex, which numbered far more structures, only some of the buildings along the eastern end of the harbor survive today.

The design provides for a different use for each part of the complex. Shipyards one through four are intended to serve as space for temporary exhibitions. The sixth and seventh will be converted into a venue for talks and performing arts with a capacity of 170 people, including offices and a refreshment area. The fifth Shipyard will function as the entrance to the complex, with a gift shop and a permanent exhibition. The interventions include new glass facades on the north side, reconstruction of the South Gate, and the installation of LED lighting and heat pumps for heating and cooling the spaces.

For Chania, the project carries a double significance. On one hand, it concerns saving a monument that has suffered damage from exposure to the marine environment and long-term underuse; on the other, it adds a permanent cultural facility to the city with an event hall and exhibition spaces, in an area that today functions almost exclusively as a tourist destination. The next step is the submission and evaluation of bids after October 20, a process that for projects of this scale usually takes several months and can be extended by any pre-contractual appeals. No timeline has been announced for the selection of a contractor. More from the city on the Chania page. The municipality has not announced whether and how the spaces will operate during the works, nor whether temporary relocations are planned for events currently hosted there.