Religious Monuments of Kydonia

The province of Kydonia, i.e. the wider area of current Chania city, hosted a large number of monasteries and hermitages. Especially the isolated and inhospitable Cape Akrotiri or Melecha was home to dozen monks and hermits who lived a strict monastic life in caves and small convents, following the footsteps of Saint John the Hermit. Unlike Akrotiri, the fertile plane around Chania hosted many monasterial dependencies owing very large areas of olive groves and vineyards.

Transfiguration Monastery at Kastelos

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At the area of Agia Kyriaki, on a rocky hill below the the ruins of the Byzantine fort Kastellos we meet the newly erected monastic buildings of the monastery Chrisopigi located in Chania town This place was blessed with his presence in 2002 by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who walked in the trails in the area and laid the foundation stone of the new monastery temple, dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ.

Zoodochos Pigi Church, Alikianos

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The imposing Byzantine church of the Life-Giving Fountain (Zoodohos Pihi) is located between the villages of Koufos and Alikianos, at a site with many orange and lemon trees. The temple is also known as Ai Kyrgiannis (St Mister John) after the name of St. John the Hermit or Xenos who founded it around 1030.

Sarakinasmonastery (Megisti Lavra dependency)

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The monastery complex, a dependency of the monastery of Megisti Lavra at Athos, has been declared a historical monument. It consists of neoclassical buildings that surround the one-aisledtemple that was reconstructed in the 19th century. The complex consists of cells and rooms for storing crops.

Agia Triada Sinai monastery

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The Sinai dependency of Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) is located between Perivolia and Mournies suburbs of Chania and is one of the 4 independent monasteries of Sinai Saint Catherine Monastery in Crete. The Monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded during the Second Byzantine Period (before 1204) and had a rural character, as evidenced by the monastery (olive mill, warehouse for products, etc).

Cave of Saint Gerasimos at Modi

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Two km south of the village Modi by Platanias (Chania) we meet is the cavernous chapel of St. Gerasimos. The location of this beautiful cave is accessed via dirt road that starts from Modi (there are information signs). The cave is located on a hillside that is covered by an ancient olive grove.The temple is built inside the cave, is spacious and has a courtyard along a long rock shelter.

Saint Anthony monastery at Akrotiri

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The unknown monastery of St. Anthony at Akrotiri, deserted today, lies near the Monastery Gouverneto, from where a path starts. The monastic complex with the cavernous chapel of St Anthony wasof exquisite architecture, but today endures the abandonment and is left in the hands of the shepherds who use it as a pen!

Agios Nikolaos church at Souda

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There was a monastery of St. Nicolas on the islet of Souda, before it was fortified. The islet was then called "Fraronisi" (Fraros or Floros is a Catholic monk in Greek) until it was fortified, when it was renamed "Souda" after the gulf. The imposing temple of monastery of Agios Nikolaos is still surviving and is worth a visit.

Saint Eleftherios monastery at Mournies

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The abandoned monastery of Agios Eleftherios at Mournies is a dependency of Chrysopigi monastery and is located near the General Hospital of Chania, among olive groves, houses and a school. Here was baptized the most important modern Greek politician, Eleftherios Venizelos.

Kydonia

Religious Monuments of Kydonia

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