Asceticism

The temple of Agios Georgios at Assaris belongs to a small monastery, now a dependency of Panagia Faneromeni monastery. This is a single-aisled vaulted church and bears frescoes of the 14th and 15th century with the iconographic program based on the Christological cycle and the cycle of Saint George.

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.

A few meters east of Ano Kapetaniana, on the road leading to Agios Ioannis, we meet the large single-room temple of Archangel Michael. While externally it looks like a modern church, inside the visitor will be impressed by the frescoes dating back to the Venetian period. Despite the damage they have suffered by time, this is still a superb specimen of that period. On the walls we also see engravings by various travelers of the era.

The village Skepasti takes its name after the Byzantine church of Panagia Skepasti. There is legend about the Church worth mentioning. Once, pirates landed in the area and captured many girls, which were later sold as slaves to a Turk from Izmir. Among them was the wife of the priest of Skepasti.

The Monastery of the Transfiguration or Lord Christ in Keramos area, near Fourni village, is built inside a beautiful grove of cypress and pine trees in an otherwise dry region. Today the monastery is not inhabited and most of its buildings are deserted and ruined.

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.

At the north exit of the gorge Therisso and near the historical Boutsounaria we meet the settlement of Garipas. Garipas, beyond the natural beauty, hosts 2 ruined Byzantine churches with frescoes. One of these is the two-aisled church of St. George and St. Nicholas located on the main road.

The church of Agia Paraskevi is located next to a green ravine, at a site that overlooks the south side of Arhanes town. What makes this church very important, are the few but very important frescoes preserved on its walls dating back from the medieval age.