Asceticism

The church of Holy Cross (Timios Stavros) is built on the top of an impressive rocky hill at an altitude of 750m with stunning views of Ierapetra. Inside, it bears some frescoes from the Venetian era.

Below the citadel (Acropol) of Smari there is a water spring and the former small monastery of Prophet Elias (Profitis Ilias). The view from this point to Smari valley is unique and geological formations around the monastery are really impressive. Inside the sanctuary of the temple there is the spring, which obviously watered the ancient city and turned the inhospitable rocky hill to fertile crops.

The church of Saint John the Baptist is located next to the Sinai monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa and bears frescoes by the painter Phocas, whom we meet in other churches of Pediada province. An inscription mentions the date 1291, being one of the oldest in the region.

Inside Margaritsano gorge we meet the Byzantine church of Agia Paraskevi, which can be accessed from Pigouniana via a dirt track. This is a small single-nave barrel-vaulted temple with its interior adorned by frescoes of the Venetian era.

Near Karkadiotissa, at the deserted today settlement Agalantes and amid an area with huge oak trees, operated the Venetian monastery of Astratigos (Michael Archangel). The monastery is a dependency of the monastery Saint George Epanosifis. Despite the long siege of Candia by the Ottomans, this monument has not suffered the devastation experienced by most monasteries around Temenos province and the 15th-century frescoes have survived in relatively good condition.

Between Karkadiotissa and the monastery of Saint George Epanosifis, on the main road, we meet the old monastery of Saint Anthony (Agios Antonios), which now does not operate. The monastery that 0operated during the Venetian Era is a dependency of the monastery Epanosifis and is built at the point where small waterfalls are formed in winter.

On the path leading from Houdetsi to the Sinai monastery of Panagia Spiliotissa, we meet the very old church dedicated Saint Nicholas (Agios Nikolaos). It is the only temple of Houdetsi enlisted by Gerola in the catalogue of the 845 decorated churches in Crete. The church was originally a single-nave barrel-vaulted church, later expanded by acquiring additional elongated shape. It's interior bears some traces of frescoes dating back from by the Venetian era.

The Monastery of the Holy Apostles is located at the position of the current winery Strataridakis. The monastery, now deserted served as the dependency of Sina Monastery. During the German Occupation it participated to the resistance activities against the Germans by supporting the rebel group of Manolis Bandouvas.