Mirabelo

Parakalouri, now known as Saint Constantine, is a small village of the province of Mirabello. Apart from the small lake formed in winter, the place is known for the church of Saint Constantine and Saint Helen which bears frescoes dating back from the Venetian Era.

The church of Panagia Koubelina is dedicated to the Assumption of Virgin Mary (Panagia) and is a very important Byzantine monument. It is the only surviving sample of cruciform domed church in East Crete.

On the side of the national road connecting Agios Nikolaos to Pahia Ammos, above the wetland Almyros, we meet a small chapel with panoramic sea views, called Saint George Tragopiastis. While it gives the impression of a new church, it dates back from the Venetian Era and its interior was adorned by frescoes, covered by plaster.

The single-nave church of Saint George (Agios Georgios) Kavousiotis is located south of the village of Kritsa at position Kavoussi. Externally it retains an arcosolium, that is, an arched grave of the Venetian Era.

During the Venetian occupation, the double-aisled temple of Jesus Christ our Savior in Kritsa gave the name Christos to the neighborhood around, which was then considered a separate settlement, and operated as its cemetery. Here, the father of the legendary woman Kritsotopoula was a priest.

The church of Saint John the Theologian (Agios Ioannis Theologos) is located in the ruined settlement of Lakki, in the periphery of the village Kroustas. The temple was built on a pre-existing building, and nearby are traces of buildings from the Lakkos settlement, two threshing floors and a cistern.

Just outside the village of Lakonia near Agios Nikolaos we meet the small single-nave arched temple dedicated to Archangel Michael. The church interior retains excellent murals from 1431 and 1432.

The single-nave church of Saint John the Baptist (Agios Ioannis) is located in the cemetery of Kritsa. Its interior was frescoed in 1359-1360 at the expense of Ioannis Skordilis and its pictorial program is retained fragmentary. We distinguish scenes from the Evangelical cycle, the life of Christ, and ten scenes from the life of John the Baptist.