⭐ 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 George Church by Potamies

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It is located on the west bank of the river Aposelemis, on the slopes opposite Potamies village and very close to it. The western side of the temple is a natural rock on the rest of the structure has been attached. From the point of the temple which is surrounded by luh vegetation the views to the valley of Aposelemis and Potamies is amazing.

Church of Saint John the Divine at Margarites

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The Church of St. John the Theologian in Margarites is located at the southwest side of the village. It is a single-room vaulted temple and its interior bears traces of frescoes and an impressive stone iconostasis (icon shrine). On each side of the temple there are three blind arches.

Church of Archangel Michael at Arkalohori

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The funerary temple of Archangel Michael at Arkalohori is a cruciform temple with the main aisle being lower than its vertical aisle. Also there is a narthex with a dome. The church bears frescoes of the 13th century (the frescoes in the narthex date back from the 14th century).

Panagia Church at Apomarmas

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In the middle of the village Apomarmas we meet the Byzantine church of Panagia Galaktousa, dating back from the 13th century. According to tradition the founder used milk instead of water in the mortar, thus the name Galaktousa (milky) was given. In fact the name probably is connected with the icon of the Virgin suckling Christ.

Saint Andrew church at Malaxa

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On the road that runs from Chania to Keramia, before reaching village Malaxa, we meet the small church of St. Andrew. Saint Andrew has always been a major milestone for the region because of the adjacent spring with water that quenched their thirst hikers from the region on their way to the villages of Keramia. The spring site is seen from afar due to the large plane located there.

Saint Paraskevi Church at Anisaraki

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Next to the church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) at the settlement Anisaraki by Kandanos we find the single-nave vaulted church of Agia Paraskevi. The church bears frescoes in poor condition from the first half of the 14th century.

Church of Panagia at Rouma

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Near the villages Alagni and Patsideros of Heraklion, on a low hill, lies the deserted village of Rouma. We do not know when it was founded, but it is referred in the census of 1630. Rouma in the Cretan dialect means stream and is taken after the stream next to the village, where a spring with fresh water flows all year round.

Panagia church at Keramoutsi

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The church of Our Lady (Panagia) at Keramoutsi was originally a single-nave temple and bore frescoes. From the original building survives the eastern part (the apse) with folk art frescoes of the 14th century. In the 16th century the church, for some unknown reason, was renovated and converted into a cruciform temple with a dome.

Asceticism

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