byzantine
Hodegetria (Our Lady of the Way) (Kritsa)
The 19th century two-aisled church is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and to Saint Charalampus. The church is unique in that it combines elements of Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman architecture. It is home to numerous portable icons, chief among them being that of Panagia Galaktotrofoussa (Virgin Mary Nursing the Baby Jesus).
All – Holy Virgin Koumbelina at Choumeriako
The church of the All-Holy Virgin the Koumbelina or Koumbelidiki (meaning ‘having a dome’) is built according to the architectural plan of the simple cross-in-square church. A wide barrel-vaulted, transverse narthex was added to the west later. Remains of an arch on the west of the north façade indicate that a barrel-vaulted narthex existed in […]
Agios Nikolaos (St. Nicholas) at Ormos
The church of Agios Nikolaos is located at the small cove where ships were stranded during the Byzantine and Venetian eras. This is an exceptionally old domed church, one of the few of the Early Byzantine era that survive on Crete, with an impressive apse over the altar. It was built before the Arab conquest, […]
Holy Monastery of Saint George the Vrachasotes
Even though the oldest reference to the monastery dates to 1549, during the abbotship of Joachim Kontoioannes, the dating of the wall-painted north aisle of the catholicon to the 14th century, places the first use of the space to an earlier period. Indeed, the heyday of the monastery, as can be determined from the surviving […]
Ten Saints at Agioi Deka
In the centre of the settlement of Agioi Deka is a large three-aisled basilica with a narthex and two domed outbuildings to the east, dedicated to the homonymous saints. The church, which has multiple construction phases, was erected inside the Roman amphitheatre of ancient Gortyna where the saints were martyred in AD 250 during the […]
Holy Monastery of Vrontisi
The monastery of St. Anthony at Vrontisi is located at the southern feet of the sierra of Psiloreites, at a distance of around 2 kilometres from the settlement of Zaros. Even though the first written references to the monastery date to the early 15th century, it is possible that it was founded much earlier. The […]
Holy Metropolis of Gortyna and Arcadia
The Metropolis of Gortyna and Arkadia with its seat at Moires occupies the southwest part of the county of Heraklion. Its territory coincides to a great extent with that of the ancient metropolis of Gortyna whose seat was the homonymous city that was the political and religious centre of Crete from the first Christian years […]
Agarathos Monastery
Agarathos Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries on Crete (founded during the 2nd Byzantine era), is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. During the 16th century, the monastery started being fortified and taking on the form of a citadel. During the era of Venetian rule, it was an important seminary for clergymen. During the era of […]
Holy Monastery of Kroustallenia
The foundation of the monastery of Kroustallenia on the eastern side of the Plateau of Lasithi dates to the late Venetian period even though its early history remains unknown. During the Ottoman period it was an important religious and devotional centre of the area while it maintained a primary school until the first decades of […]
Holy Metropolis of Petra and Cherronesos
The Metropolis of Petra and Cherronesos with the historical capital of the county of Lasithi, Neapolis, as its seat, occupies the northwest part of the county of Lasithi and the southeast part of the county of Heraklion. It was created with the recent union of the abolished – since 1900 – Diocese of Cherronesos and […]
