In 1986 the Municipality of Khania started tidying up the former Zombanakis Military Camp to make it into a public park. A subterranean rock-cut chamber tomb had been discovered at the very beginning of this work. The ensuing excavation of the entire site revealed a section of the cemetery of ancient Kydonia in the northwest sector of the park. A total of thirty-five (35) tombs of different types and date, as well as a rubbish pit of the Early Minoan period were excavated. A Subminoan chamber tomb (about 1100- 950 B.C.) and a Late Geometric tomb (about 770- 735 B.C.) were among the earliest.
The last chronological tomb was the Roman chamber tomb 2 (2nd century AD). A short sloping corridor (dromos),with an E-W orientation leads to the Roman chamber, with two steps cut in the rock, the entrance of which was found sealed with a sandstone slab. The chamber is four-sided with a vaulted roof. There is a rectangular pit in the middle of the chamber adding height to the space and making it more useful to the living. The deceased were buried on the floor, head to the east. The offerings were placed close to the corpses, except for some which were placed in niches cut into the side walls of the chamber. There were six (6) to seven (7) burials, two of which belonged to children (a sign of high infant mortality). The Roman tomb of the the Piece and Friendship Park was a family tomb used for more than a century, as is the case of chamber tombs throughout antiquity.
The cist graves date mainly to the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods (end of 4th century B. C.) and have a SE-NW orientation. They were made of rectangular sandstone slabs while the inside was covered with plaster. Five of the seven cist graves formed a cluster, while the other two were far from this cluster. All the burials were disturbed with minimal offerings such as clay censers, potsherds, lamps, figurines, a clay plagona (doll), pieces of string, gilded wreath leaves, and three coins. After the excavation, three of the seven cist graves were moved from their original position and repositioned near the Roman chamber tomb.
The Roman chambered tomb, the stone altar and two built cist graves are preserved in the area today, visible and open to visitors
