Church of Our Lady of the Angels (Mikri Panagia) at Rethymnon
The present church of the Lady of the Angels or Mikri Panagia (Little Virgin Mary) to the east of the Old Town of Rethymnon, in contrast to the Megali Panagia (Great Virgin), that is, the Rethymnon metropolitan church, was built in the last years of the Venetian rule and was dedicated to Mary Magdalene of the Dominican Order.
It is a three-aisled church that was probably founded in the 16th century in the shape of a free-domed cross. During the Ottoman period it was converted into a mosque with a minaret by Ankebut Ahmed Pasha and later the top of the minaret fell. In 1917 it reoperated as a Christian temple. According to tradition, the city's Christians once rumoured that they found an icon of the Virgin Mary on the steps of the minaret to push the Ottomans to hand out the temple to them.
