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.
Chrysopigi Monastery 
Chrysopigi monastery is located 3km south of Chania city. Its temple belongs to the architecture Mount Athos triconch with dome and is dedicated to the Panagia Zoodochos Pigi (Live Giving Virgin Mary) (celebr. on Friday after Easter). Thousands of believers arrive here to honor the miraculous icon of Virgin Mary.
The monastery of Agia Kyriaki is located 12km south of Chania, near Varypetro. In 1992 the monastery was a set of ruins, but has since then it has been restored and now it is a scenic monastery of Crete.
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.
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).
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.
Gouverneto or Gderneto Monastery is located 19km east of Chania, on the north side of the Cape Akrotiri of Chania, near the monastery of Agia Triada Tzagarolon. It can be accessed through the Agia Triada, where there is a sign leading to the Gouverneto.
The Monastery of St. John the Baptist is built in position Korakies of Akrotiri, close to the airport of Chania. It is a historic convent which is relatively unknown in Chania.
The monastery of Agia Triada of Tzagarolon is one of the richest and most beautiful monasteries in Crete. It is built near the airport of Chania, in the position Tzobomylos of the Cape Melecha and at the foothills of Stavros Mount. The distance from Chania is only 15km.
