murals
Holy Monastery of Toplou
The monastery of Toplou or the Akrotiriani [All-Holy Virgin of the Cape], as it is called due to its position in the eastern corner of Crete, is one of the most renowned and important monasteries of the island. Its establishment probably dates to the late 14th century, a period during which the original catholicon was […]
Panagias (Mother Mary) Monastery at Gourni
The ruins of Panagia Monastery are located in the hard-to-reach area of Gourni. The catholicon, the only part of the monastery that has survived, is an arch-covered church dedicated to the Dormition of Mother Mary. Initially single-aisled, it was converted to two-aisled in the 16th century, with the new addition dedicated to the Ascension of […]
The church of Christ the Saviour (Sotiros Christou) (Temenia)
The church of Christ the Saviour (Soter) was created in two stages: the first stage dates back to the 13th century and the second one to the 14th century. Its murals date back to the 16th – 17th centuries.
The church of St. George (Agios Georgios) (Vathi)
A one-hall church covered with arches, characterised by blind side coving. According to the inscription inside, its murals date to 1284 and are typical examples illustrating folk style art of the time.
The church of the Saviour’s Transfiguration (Metamorphosis tou Sotiros) (Kefali)
This is a 14th century church, the murals of which date back to 1320, as indicated by an inscription. The particularity of the church is that, besides murals, it also bears numerous coats of arms, names and dates on all its walls.
The church of St. John the Divine (Agios Ioannis Theologos) (Elos)
At the centre of the village of Elos there is the one-hall church covered with arches, dedicated to St. John the Divine (Theologos), with important mural decoration. The paintings are attributed to Ioannis Pagomenos, a well-known painter from western Crete.
The church of Ioannis Xenos (Falassarna)
This is a two-aisled church dedicated to Osios Ioannis and St. Eustathios, near ancient Falassarna. It was the hermitage of Osios Ioannis Xenos during the 11th century and part of it is within a cave. The mural decoration dates to the period between the 11th and the 14th century and tells the life story of […]
The church of Saint Barbara (Agia Varvara) (Boulgaro)
In the village of Boulgaro there is the ruined church of Saint Barbara, which probably used to be the Catholicon church of a monastery. It is a cruciform, ‘cross-in-a-square’ church with a cupola and a narthex that was added at a later age, which underwent various architectural changes during the period of Venetian. The church […]
The Church of Archangel Michael (Michail Archangelos) (Episcope)
This early Christian church dating from the second half of the 6th century, situated outside Kato Episcope, near Kissamos, is one of the most important monuments of Crete from the early Christian period. The church is of great value, from both an architectural and an icon painting perspective. Architecturally, it is a periaptic (pericentric) rectangular […]
