Places
Agia Varvara (St. Barbara) (Syrmesso)
The single-space arch-covered church of Agia Varvara was the catholicon of a Monastery during the era of Venetian rule, with the monastery structures being visible around the church. The depiction of Saint Barbara on the drum of the semi-circular relief arch is particularly impressive.
Agios Antonios (St. Anthony) (Syrmesso)
The church was the catholicon of a 16th century monastery of the same name. It is a single-space arch-covered church with a semi-circular relief arch at the southern entrance. Its western side is linked to the main church with an arched narthex, while around the catholicon one can see the ruins of the Monastery that […]
Saint Constantine at Dories
The twin-naved church at Dories, dedicated to St. Constantine and to the Holy Cross, was the catholicon of a relatively small monastery from which only a few buildings survive with the most important of these being a barrel-vaulted one to the north of the church. The early history of the monastery, even though unknown in […]
Agios Georgios (St. George) (Skinias)
This is a 16th century arch-covered single-space church, with impressive blind arches and an ogival apse. Its murals date back to the 14th century and survive in relatively good condition.
The Early Christian Basilica at Elounda
In the location of the ancient city of Olous, at the isthmus of Poros, the settlement of Alyngos, as Elounda was called in the sources of the sixth century, developed in the early Byzantine period. The most important excavated monuments of the settlements are, until today, the two early Christian basilicas of the 5th century, […]
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, […]
All – Holy Virgin the Vrefokratousa at Agios Nikolaos
The particularly elongated church of the All-Holy Virgin in the old centre of the city of Agios Nikolaos is the result of two successive expansions to the west of the original barrel-vaulted, single-nave church. The original church and the first expansion have two layers of mural paintings of which the oldest, dating to the first […]
Church of Panagia (Mother Mary) / Church of Agia Ekaterini (St. Catherine) (Ano Viannos)
The hamlet of Ano Viannos is home to many important churches, including the church of Panagia i Liontarini (Mother Mary of the Lion), where, according to tradition, there was an artful Venetian marble lion, and the 14th century church of Agia Ekaterini (built in 1360) with well-preserved murals.
Panagia (Mother Mary) of Detis (milliarado)
South of Embaros, on a hillside called ‘Detis’ by the locals, lies the pilgrimage of Panagia. It is a small cavernous church built in a crack within the rock, where, according to tradition, the icon of the Virgin Mary that left the church of ‘Kato Kera’ in order to escape the Ottomans is located.
Church of Sotiras Christos (Christ the Redeemer) (Kassani)
The Kassani region includes many churches of the Late Byzantine era with noteworthy murals. One of these is the church of Sotiras Christos, at the village centre, beside the old fountain. The surviving murals depict the Birth, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Baptism of Jesus, the Last Supper, etc.
