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 church of Saint George (Agios Georgios) Koubelis is located in the position Sodi east of Chania city and on the western base of Akrotiri peninsula, very close to the wastewater treatment plant. It was the temple of a small seaside monastery, from which no other buildings survive.
The church of Christ the Savior (Sotiras Christos) is located in the cemetery of the village Kefali of the area called Nine Villages in Kissamos Province and is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior (celebr. August 6th). The single-nave arch-roofed temple has been externally altered by recent interventions, but internally it preserves its rich wall paintings that date back from 1320.
The church of Panagia in Psychro, province Ierapetra, is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 15th) and is recorded to the Venetian census of monasteries and temples of the 17th century. It belongs to the parish of the village of Agios Ioannis and there is a big feast taking place here annualy.
The church of Saint Nicholas (Agios Nikolaos) is built in a rural area northeast of the village Moni, province Selino. Its oldest eastern section was built in the architectural type of a single-storey arched temple with blind arches on the side walls.
The church of Zoodohos Pigi (Life Giving Spring) is located a few meters south of Lake Damania and next to the local cemetery. The church bears frescoes of 1399 and in its current form comes after restoration works that started in 1979, as it was ruined until then.
The temple of Panagia Mesohoritissa is located in the center of the picturesque village Malles in the province of Ierapetra. It is made of a single temple, to which a second transverse aisle has been added. Both sections of the two phases of construction bear frescoes.
The church of Michael Archangel or Astratigos is located in a rural location very close to the village of Kouneni (current official name is Vathi) and belongs to the architectural type of the single-nave arched roofed temple.
The single-nave church of Saint George (Agios Georgios) Kavousiotis is located south of the village of Kritsa at position Kavoussi. Externally it retains an arcosolium, that is, an arched grave of the Venetian Era.
Beaches
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West CreteCentral CreteEast CreteChaniaPaleochoraKissamosGeorgioupolisChora SfakionLoutroRethymnonAgia GaliniPlakiasSpiliAnogiaHeraklionHersonissosMaliaMatalaAgia Pelagia`ArchanesKokkinos PirgosAgios NikolaosEloundaSitiaIerapetraMakrigialosPalekastroZakrosLassithi Plateau
