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.
The monastery of Panagia Kera Kavallaras operated as a dependency of Dionysiou Monastery at Athos in the 15th century and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The temple of the ruined monastery is well maintained, but has undergone many alterations. The location oversees the plains of Malevizi and Heraklion.
After the lifting of the ban on cultivation of the Lassithi Plateau by the Venetians, they left the land to friend-refugees from the Peloponnese. Peloponnese was occupied by the Turks since the 15th century.
The temple of the Panagia at Zachariana is dedicated to Virgin Mary and dates back from the 10th-11th century. It has a very special architecture, with a free cross with a dome. There are some frescoes surviving in poor condition.
By the highway at position Gazi we find the church of Agia Marina, celebrated on July 17. The church of Agia Marina is doubled aisled with the second aisle dedicated to Saint Spiriodon. Saint Spyridon, which was the original church, was built in 1901 by the Andreas Kalokerinos. Kalokerinos after the departure of the Ottomans from Crete acquired a huge fortune in the most fertile part of the whole of Crete, the province Malevizi.
Near Potami dam, province Amari, and south of village Harkia, in a lush green position with plane trees we meet the abandoned convent of Panagia Eleousa, dedicated to Zoodochos Pigi (Life Giving Spring). We can reach this point through a sign on the main road surrounding the dam. The place hosts the small church dating back to the Venetian Era and bearing some traces of frescoes.
The Cathedral of Saint John is located at Episkopi, province Mylopotamos, and is a cruciform temple with a dome. It was built in the 13th century on the ruins of an early Christian basilica of the 5th century. It became the cathedral and the seat of the Diocese of Avlopotamos during the Venetian Era. Inside, on the surving dome we meet some frescoes of the 14th century following the Palaeologean style.
At the abandoned settlement of Frathias, near the monastery of Xera Xyla, there is the church of Saint John, which for once was the temple of a small monastery. The church is single-nave, arched and at the entrance there is the date 1590 indicated.
The church of Saint Panteleimon by Nopigia is a cruciform church of the 14-15th century and is one of the largest pilgrimages in the area of Kissamos. It is dedicated to St. Panteleimon, St Spyridon and St Charalambos.
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