Church of Panagia at Kyrianna
The imposing church of the Panagia (Virgin Mary) is located at the center of the village Kyrianna and is dedicated to the Dormition of Mary (August 15). The original church (11th century) was a cruciform temple with a dome and looked like the chapel of Saint Paul at Selouda. It is said that it was first founded by the local Saint John the Hermit, that gave later the name of the village Kirianna (from Kyr Giannis)
The church was enlarged in the 14th century to the west, while in the 17th century it a second temple was added, attached to the first, and is the chapel of Saint Paraskevi we see today. The front façade was also formed that era. In front of the church there is a bell tower with three arches of unique in beauty and detail.
The church of Panagia in Kyrianna with its successive interventions during the Venetian Era is a particularly interesting sample of the processes that took place in the field of ecclesiastical architecture in Crete due to the contact with the West Europe, both in the field of Post Gothic architecture and Mannerism (art that developed during the last period of the Renaissance and especially the period from the 1520s to the 1600s).
