Filagris Monastery at Lousoudi
The monastery of the Three Hierarchs is located at one of the most inhospitable areas of Crete, at position Lousoudi of the wild Asterousia Mountains. It was founded in the 14th century near the peak of Kofinas, at an altitude of 880m, and is considered by archaeologist Athanasios Paliouras as the "first" Greek University. Founder of the monastery was the monk Joseph Filagris, one of the most important scholars of Aristotle, who at the same time continued here the long tradition of asceticism around Asterousia.
The excavations have brought to light the monk cells, the cuisine and dining room, store houses and the guest house. The most important however, was Scriptorium, i.e. the workshop where Filagris and his students copied manuscripts, codices and parchments from religious texts and ancient writers, especially Aristotle. The manuscripts of Filagris are preserved today in libraries in London, Vienna, Paris, Bucharest, Mount Athos, etc.
The Church in this period fought Aristotle, while the Venetians had forbidden teaching of the Greek Language. However, the choice of this isolated place for establishing the monastery helped Filagris with his great work. He contributed to the rescue of a large part of Aristotle’s work, but also he taught Greek Literature, Mathematics and Medicine in very high level.
On 30/1/2016, a Divine Service was held for the first time after 600 years in the restored temple of the monastery.
