⭐ Travel Guide for Island Crete ⛵, Greece❗

The arrival of Saint John the Hermit in Crete of the Early Christian Times was the beginning of a great ascetic tradition that continues to the present day. Hundreds of hermits secluded in the most remote parts of the island, forming ascetic communities that later evolved to thriving monasteries. Hundreds of countryside monasteries, most of which don't operate today, are dispersed throughout the island.

A special sample of hermitage is the Monastery Katholiko at Akrotiri Cape in the caves of which hermits lived their monastic life away, from worldly pleasures. Equally important were the religious sites of the secluded peninsulas Gramvousa and Rodopos, where several small monasteries developed.

The greatest hermitage of all was the naturally isolated, and impassable range of Asterousia in southern Heraklion. Hundreds of caves from Saint Nikitas to Cape Lithino still host hermits. Relations between them were so limited that in Agiofarago and Martsalo they gathered only once a year, in cave Goumenospilio and counted how many of them survived each year.

In eastern Crete, the north province of Mirabello is the largest field of asceticism with dozens of small monastic establishments. Here hermits built small monasteries, where they usually lived alone.

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Saint John monastery at Gramvousa

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At one of the most remote spots of Crete, the peninsula of Gramvousa, operated the small monastery of St. John, which is dedicated to the decapitation of John the Baptist.

Temple and Graves of Ten Saints (Agii Deka)

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The village Agii Deka (Ten Saints) is named after the ten Cretan Christians that martyred there during the persecutions carried out by Decius in 250 AD. At the point where they martyred, at position Alonion, there is the three-aisled basilica of the 12th century.

The catacomb of Saint Anthony at Giouchtas

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The temple is one of the many in Crete dedicated to Saint Anthony, the "saint of the caves". It is a catacomb carved in the soft limestone of the area. Probably, it is the residue of an ancient temple or grave formed after widening a pre-existing cave. We should not overlook the existence of the several Minoan sacred caves on Mount Youchtas.

Saint George Klidas by Katalagari

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The church of St. George Kleidas is located at a beautiful site close to Katalagari village and is the temple of a small monastery that operated here during the Venetian period, probably as a dependency of a larger monastery. The name Klidas is probably taken after the surname of the founder or owner of the land.

Agios Nikolaos church at Souda

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There was a monastery of St. Nicolas on the islet of Souda, before it was fortified. The islet was then called "Fraronisi" (Fraros or Floros is a Catholic monk in Greek) until it was fortified, when it was renamed "Souda" after the gulf. The imposing temple of monastery of Agios Nikolaos is still surviving and is worth a visit.

Saint Demetrius church at Viran Episkopi

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The church of Agios Dimitrios is a very special four aisled Byzantine basilica with a dome in the fourth aisle. A nave survives with a frescoes of St. Demetrius. It is considered to have served as the Diocese of Ario and was built at the site of an ancient temple of goddess Artemis (Diana).

Church of Saint Myron at Agios Mironas

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The village of Agios Myron takes its name after the temple of St Myron, in which there is the tomb and the relics of St. Myron from Crete, which smell like myrrh. Under the temple there is the hermitage of the saint Myron, which has been formed into a chapel. Saint Myron was the bishop of Knossos and lived in the 4th century.

Panagia Church at Roustika

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The two-aisled church of Panagia Katochoriani or Levadiotissa at Roustica is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin and the Transfiguration of Chist. It was founded probably in the 12th century as a single-aisled church of the Virgin Mary and in 1627 a second aisle was attached to the existing temple.

Asceticism

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