Cities

The Great Temple of the Four Martyrs is located south of the walls of the old town of Rethymnon and close to the Venetian gate Guora Porta. It is dedicated to the neo-martyrs Angelis, Manuel, Georgios and Nikolaos Retzepis from Melambes, who were killed near the spot in 1824. T

The cave church of Panagia at Vithanos is located in a panoramic position of the Loutra Gorge, near the village of Krotos. It is dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi (Life Giving Spring) and one can still see the date 20-5-1765 above the entrance.

The neoclassical church of Agios Antonios in the old town of Rethymnon belongs to the Catholic doctrine. It was built in 1890, as the inscription states at the entrance, and was built to meet the needs of the city's Catholic Christians. The cathedral dedicated to Saint Francis served as a workhouse.

The mosque of Ibrahim Khan is located almost in the center of the imposing fort Fortezza in Rethymnon. The building was built in 1583, during the Venetian occupation, and functioned as a Christian church dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

The Mosque of Kara Musa Pasha in Rethymnon was named after the admiral of the Turkish occupation forces of Rethymnon in the year 1646. The monastery of Saint Barbara was operating there from the Venetian occupation, from which nothing survives. The mosque belongs to the Ottoman architectural type of cesme, with a four-sided vaulted tank and two main facades.

The mosque of Turhan Hatice still dominates with its imposing minaret next to the Great Gate (Guora Porta) of Rethymnon old town, though it is enclosed by several modern buildings. Turhan Hadice belonged to the sultan Ibrahim's harem (1640-1648) and became a Valide sultan in 1648 when her son, Mehmet D, became sultan.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Great Holy Virgin (Megali Panagia) in Rethymnon is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary (feast 21st November), Three Hierarchs and the Holy Apostles.

Inside Margaritsano gorge we meet the Byzantine church of Agia Paraskevi, which can be accessed from Pigouniana via a dirt track. This is a small single-nave barrel-vaulted temple with its interior adorned by frescoes of the Venetian era.