The Cretan Tradition of

Asceticism

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 George Assaris Monastery

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.

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Panagia Kera Limniotissa by Episkopi

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.

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Temple of Michael Archangel, Kapetaniana

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.

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Church of Panagia at Skepasti

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.

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Monastery of Transfiguration in Keramos

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.

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Panagia church at Detis

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.

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Church of Saint George at Garipas

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.

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Church of Saint Paraskevi at Archanes

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.

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