Saint Eleftherios monastery at Mournies
The abandoned monastery of Saint Eleftherios at Mournies, province Kydonia, 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.
The historic monument dates back from the 17th century and a part of it from the early 10th century. Today the warehouses, the cells and the olive oil mill of 1674 are dilapidated and wait patiently for the Greek state to act before complete collapse. Already in 1982 the monastery has declared as a protected monument.
At the center of the monastic complex there is the temple of Agios Eleftherios that belongs to the architectural style of the single triconch temple with a blue dome. The church had a very special architecture resembling a Latin cross, i.e. with the vertical part being longer than the other, with three niches and a large dome without side chapels.
It flourished mainly during the Ottoman rule and became a refuge for many monks. It merged with the nearby Monastery of Chrysopigi in 1674, while it was also associated with Mount Athos when Nikiforos Phocas liberated Crete from the Arabs in 961.
