In the title compound, [Cr(C(7)H(2)N(2)O(7))Cl(C(12)H(8)N(2))(H(2)O)], the Cr(III) atom displays a distorted octa-hedral coordination geometry, with the chelating phenantroline and 3,5-dinitro-salicylate ligands in trans positions. In the crystal, mol-ecules are connected via O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a two-dimensional framework parallel to (100). In addition, there are π-π stacking inter-actions between phenanthroline ligands along the c axis, with a mean inter-planar distance of 3.456 (4) Å.