Cydonia

Cydonia is a toponym used for several distinct things in geography, botany, and planetary nomenclature.

In Crete, Cydonia (Greek Kyḗdonía) was an ancient city-state on the island’s northwest coast. Its ruins lie near the modern city of Chania, and the name survives in the regional toponymy of the area.

In botany, Cydonia refers to the quince, specifically Cydonia oblonga. This is a deciduous fruit tree in the Rosaceae family, and it is the principal species placed in the genus Cydonia. The fruit is aromatic and commonly used in preserves, jellies, and cooking. Quince trees are cultivated in the Mediterranean and other temperate regions, and some classifications treat Cydonia as a monotypic genus.

In planetary science, Cydonia is the name given to a region on Mars, known as Cydonia Mensae. This area lies in the northern part of the planet and is characterized by mesas and fretted terrain at the boundary between the highlands and northern plains. The region gained famous attention from the 1976 Viking 1 image associated with the so‑called “Face on Mars”; however, higher-resolution images obtained later did not support the interpretation of an artificial structure. The name Cydonia in this context is drawn from the ancient region of Crete.