Places
Attali Monastery or Bale
Attali Monatery or Bale is located on the hills of Agia Ypakoi near Bali and is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Although the monastery dates back to the 14th century, written testimonies date back to 1628 onwards. The Monastery is built on numerous levels and features stables, an oil mill, baking premises, a fountain, […]
Panagia Harakiani (Mother Mary of Harakas) Monastery
Panagia Harakiani Monastery is situated on the road from Heraklion to Rethymno, near Bali. According to the most likely version of events, it served as a glebe of Attali Monastery. At the west of the church, the sigil of the Kallergis family can be seen.
Agios Pavlos (St. Paul) Monastery
The Monastery is located south-west of Rethymno in the Gallos area. It was founded in 1566 and served as a glebe of Arkadi Monastery. Most of the Monastery structures date back to the 15th and 16th century. Its catholicon, a single-space arch-covered church, is dedicated to Saint Paul. During the revolution of 1866, the monastery […]
Metamorfoseos Sotiros (Transfiguration of the Redeemer) Convent
The Convent of the Transfiguration of the Saviour is situated on Koumbes hill, just outside the centre of Rethymno. This is a women’s convent founded in 1935, originally as a church, by Vassalos, an elder of Mount Athos. Since 1970, buildings began being erected around the church, which was gradually converted into a Convent. The […]
Arsaniou Monastery
An old men’s monastery, located 12km east of Rethymno, in the Pangalochori community, possibly founded during the 2nd Byzantine period (961-1204). It was founded by a monk named Arsenios, after whom it was named. According to the most likely version of events, it was deserted at one point due to pirates causing problems to coastal […]
Agia Irini (St. Irene) Convent
The convent located near Rethymno was probably founded by Byzantine ascetics who lived as nuns in caves within the region. During the period of Venetian rule, the convent owned extensive land and operated throughout the period of Ottoman rule until the revolution of 1821, when it began to shrink. It subsequently underwent a long period […]
Arkadi Monastery
Arkadi Monatery is perhaps the best known monastery on Crete due to the Holocaust of 1866. However, its location and impressive architecture make it all the more special. It is a large fortified complex built during the end of the period of Venetian rule. Apart from the monks’ cells, the central building also includes warehouses, […]
Panagias Thymianis (Mother Mary of the thyme) Monastery (Komitades)
According to tradition the name of the monastery comes from an icon of Mother Mary found under a thyme bush and has been a sacred site for the residents of Sfakia. The catholicon (main church) of the monastery is a two-aisled church dedicated to the Nativity of Mother Mary (Gennisis tis Theotokou) and the Holy […]
Agiou Pnevmatos (Holy Spirit) Monastery (Kissos)
This monastery was established in the late Byzantine period and only the small two-aisled church with a narthex has been preserved. Several documents from the 1635-1650 period refer to the monastery, which was probably at its prime then. During the 1821 Liberation Revolution, the Ottomans destroyed the monastery, slaughtered the monks and set fire to […]
Panagias (Mother Mary) Monastery (Fourfouras)
At the Leivada location, southeast of Fourfouras, there are ruins of the Monastery of Mother Mary (Moni Panagias), which is also known as Panagia sti Leivada (Mother Mary on the Meadow). The only thing preserved from the monastery is a small, arch-roofed, one-aisle church, within which some murals dating back to 1400 have been preserved. […]
