The story of Corinna Mare is closely connected to Kalamaki and to the family who founded it. Through photographs of the old coastline and moments from our family album, we trace the history of a place and a hotel that began with Vasilis and Corinna Digalakis in the mid-1970s.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, the stretch of the Chania-Kissamos road along the coast of Kato Galatas was known as "Galathiana Hania." Kalamaki looked very different then, with scattered buildings and open land beside the sea.
One of the buildings associated with this period is the Prève residence, visible on the left of the 1951 photograph. According to historical documentation from the Greek Ministry of Culture, this interwar holiday home stands in an area known as "Vrysopoula," a place name recorded in a property deed from 1936.
The photograph preserves a glimpse of the coast at that time: the residence, the low buildings, the coastal road and a passing bus, with the sea stretching out behind them.
Photographs: Kalamaki in 1951, with the Prève residence visible on the left (Tzanis Dimitropoulos Archive); a recent view of the Prève residence.
The area also holds memories of the Second World War. Nearby Galatas was the scene of fierce fighting during the Battle of Crete in May 1941.
Two photographs from that year connect Kalamaki directly with this chapter of history. One shows British prisoners of war; the other, members of the 19th New Zealand Battalion. Behind them, the coastline of Kalamaki and Thodorou Island remain recognisable features of the landscape visitors see today.
Photograph: British prisoners of war, 1941, with Kalamaki Beach and Thodorou Island in the background. Source: Greece at WWII Archives Facebook page, crediting George Tsampas.
Photograph: Members of the 19th New Zealand Battalion, with Kalamaki Beach and Thodorou Island in the background, 1941.
Kalamaki, also known as Kato Galatas, is the coastal part of the Galatas area. Photographs from the 1950s and 1960s capture everyday life by the sea: small boats near the shore, tables beneath shaded terraces and people spending time on the beach. Behind the waterfront, buildings were still few and the landscape remained open.
Long before Villa Corinna was built, the beach had a life of its own. These images offer a glimpse of those earlier summers through the ordinary moments of the people who spent them here.
Photograph: A small boat in Kalamaki Bay, 1965. Tzanis Dimitropoulos Archive.
Photograph: A day at Kalamaki Beach, 1967.
In 1974-1975, Vasilis and Corinna Digalakis built the original hotel, naming it Villa Corinna.
Vasilis was a medical microbiologist working at the Naval Hospital in Chania. The idea of opening a hotel came through a conversation with an engineer from Heraklion who was completing his military service. Having seen tourism develop earlier in Heraklion, the engineer encouraged Vasilis to consider a similar venture in Kalamaki.
Vasilis and Corinna put the idea into practice. According to the family's recollections, Villa Corinna was the first hotel in the area, linking their own story with the early years of tourism in Kalamaki.
While the hotel was being built, it was already becoming part of family life. A photograph from 1974 shows Corinna with her three children on the rocky shore directly in front of the hotel.
Before the first guests arrived, family memories were already taking shape here, against the backdrop of the sea and the rocks outside Villa Corinna.
Photograph: The original Villa Corinna building, 1975. Digalakis Family Archive.
Photograph: Corinna Digalakis with her children on the shore in front of the hotel, 1974. Digalakis Family Archive.
Villa Corinna welcomed its first guests around 1976-1977. Among its early visitors were Gregory and Mary, a couple pictured with Vasilis and Corinna in family photographs from 1980.
An embrace in front of the wooden shutters, a toast around the table: these small moments from the hotel's early years introduce some of the people who became part of its story.
Photograph: Corinna Digalakis with Gregory, one of Villa Corinna's earliest guests, 1980. Digalakis Family Archive.
Photograph: Vasilis and Corinna Digalakis with Mary, one of Villa Corinna's earliest guests, 1980. Digalakis Family Archive.
The year 1991 marked an important milestone. With the construction of its first extension, Villa Corinna grew and took a new name: Corinna Mare.
A photograph from the inauguration and blessing ceremony preserves this moment, marking a new chapter for the hotel Vasilis and Corinna had founded almost two decades earlier.
Photograph: A moment from the inauguration and blessing ceremony at Corinna Mare, 1991. Digalakis Family Archive.
In 2004, Corinna Mare grew again with its second extension. The addition of the restaurant, a second swimming pool and the private beach area brought new ways for guests to enjoy their stay beside the sea.
This expansion helped shape the hotel as visitors know it today, with spaces for dining, swimming and relaxing along the waterfront.
Photographs: Present-day views of Corinna Mare
Today, these photographs connect us to our beginnings: to Kalamaki in earlier decades, to Vasilis and Corinna, to their children and to the first guests who stayed here.
We share these memories so that you can get to know the place where you are staying a little better-and the people with whom the story of Corinna Mare began.
