The Loggia of Candia was one of the city’s most important public spaces, a place of meeting for officials, nobles, and the urban aristocracy. The building was reconstructed four times in different locations. The last Loggia was erected by the provveditore Francesco Morosini between 1626 and 1628 at the south-eastern corner of the Piazza dei Signori (today’s Kallergon Square) and was regarded as one of the finest public buildings in Candia.

During the Ottoman period it remained largely intact, although it was joined to the neighbouring Armoury (Armeria). In the late 19th century, its restoration and conversion into an archaeological museum were planned, but in 1904 the upper storey was violently demolished under the pretext of structural instability. Amid public outcry, the Municipal Council turned to the Italian government for support in restoring the monument, following a study prepared by Max Ongaro; but the works were interrupted owing to the First World War and in 1937 the remaining ground-floor section was also demolished.

Today, on the site of the original 17th-century Loggia stands a faithful reconstruction, housing the city’s Town Hall. Of the 82 sculpted metopes that once adorned the building — depicting winged lions, coats of arms, trophies, musical instruments, and decorative knots — only a few have survived; these are exhibited in the Historical Museum of Crete and at the fortress of Rocca a Mare.