During the Venetian occupation (1204 - 1669), the need for the closer presence of Venetian navy in Crete obliged Venice to construct the "Neoria" (arsenal), a dockyard where the ships would be maintained during the winter.

In 1467, Venice ordered the construction of a number of "Neoria", two per city (Chania and Rethymno). The construction of the first two "Neoria" in Chania was completed in 1526. In 1593, sixteen "Neoria" had been constructed. In 1599, the south "Neoria" complex was completed with the construction of the 17^th "Neorio".  In 1607, at the same time when the northeast rampart was extended, the construction of 5 more "Neoria" at the heart of the port begins, which are commonly known as "the Neoria of Moro", named after the General Intendant who suggested their construction. Two of the five "Neoria" were completed, and walls were also constructed. 

During the Turkish period, the lack of maintenance works in the port and the degradation of its role also resulted in the degradation of the "Neoria", which were now used as military storage spaces. From the initial "Neoria" complex with 17 "Neoria", nine were demolished.  Nowadays, a group of 7 continuous domes is preserved-along with another one further to the west, the "Grand Arsenal" (today, the Center of Mediterranean Architecture). From the "Moro" complex, only two "Neoria" are preserved intact, at the heart of the port.

In their initial formation, the "Neoria" were open to the sea which covered a part of the interior, so that the ships could be transferred easily. There were covered with domes and were connected through arched openings on the walls. The entrance to "Neoria" was possible through 2 gates: one on the south side of the 9^th "neorio" and another on the west side of the 17^th "neorio".  The "Neoria" were 500 m. long, 9m. wide and had an average height of 10 m. On its south side there are the only light openings- a round sky light and two large windows. The main entrance was in about the middle of the complex, at the end of today's street "Daskalogianni", where the west half part of the majestic gate is still preserved. After the demolition of the west "neoria", the gate leads to the plateau that was created.

In the position of the demolished "Neoria", the stone building of the customs of Chania was constructed, which is today surrounded by two plateaus.