Pediada

In a rural area of Episkopi, province Pediada, by Heraklion we meet the forgotten and unknown to almost everyone St Phocas (Agios Fokas). Agios Fokas is a ruined church that nowadays has turned into a pile of stones. Only a part of the south wall is preserved today and will soon collapse.

In the short gorge between Galipe and Kenourgio Horio villages, we find the small cavernous chapel of Agia Anastasia. It is one of the 265 cavernous chapels of Crete and one of the most interesting. It is surrounded by pines and cypresses of a small artificial grove. There is water leaking from the roof, therefore it is considered miraculous.

A few meters west of Episkopi village, Pediada District, there is the imposing church of Kera Limniotissa dedicated to Virgin Mary, surrounded by dense vineyards and olive groves. The church was a part of the nunnery of Kera Limniotissa that was probably founded in early Venetian years and stopped its operation after the Turkish occupation of Crete.

South of Embaros rises the steep rocky hill of Detis and one can see from afar the white church of Panagia (celebrated on March 25 and August 23). This temple is quite new and was built here to meet the religious needs of the pilgrims who flock here for one of the largest pilgrimages in Crete.

One of the many churches in the village Episkopi is that of Michael the Archangel. The temple was probably originally dedicated to the Synaxis of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (celebr. Nov 8), as they both are illustrated with an embossed halo.

The Church of Panagia (Our Lady) at the ruined village of Kato Astraki is a single-aisled 16th century church which bears traces of frescoes. Also on the west side there is a coat of arms depicting a double-headed eagle with the date 1555. Inside the church we see a tomb with a coat of arms on it (possibly from Kallergis family).

About one kilometer southeast of the village Skalani, Heraklion Province, at the position Aposami survives today the medieval monastery of St. Minas. Built at a very fertile area amid vineyards and olive groves endures until today the fate of abandonment and desolation as so many unknown treasures and monuments of Cretan countryside.

Panagia Evangelistria church is located in the courtyard of the school of Avdou and is the oldest temple in the area, dating since the 12th-13th century. It's a small domed cruciform temple with exceptional frescoes and relief decor.