⭐ 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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Church of Saint George at Meseleri

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The church of Saint George (Agios Georgios) is located near the center of the village Messelleri in the province of Ierapetra. Its fresco decoration dates back from about 1300AD and is partially preserved.

Saint Stephen Church at Monastiraki

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The small single-nave and arched church of Saint Stephen (Agios Stefanos) is located in the almost deserted village Monastiraki in the province of Ierapetra, next to a water source from the mountain of Thrypti.

Church of the Holy Cross in Strovles

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In the upper neighborhood of the village Strovles, in the province of Selino, we meet built the church of the Holy Cross (Timios Stavros), which was used as a cemetery in the past. The church dates back to about 1440 and belongs to the architectural type of the arched-roofed single-storey temple, to which a heavy bell tower has been added in a second phase.

Church of Saints Panteleimon and Demetrius in Garipas

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The church of Saints Panteleimon and Demetrius is located in the village Garipas, near Perivolia, province Kydonia. It is a two-story temple dating back to the Venetian period and has been restored. The northern aisle is dedicated to Saint Panteleimon (Agios Panteleimonas) and the south to Saint Demetrius (Agios Dimitrios).

Church of Saint John the Baptist in Axos

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The church of Saint John the Baptist (Agios Ioannis Prodromos) is located in Axos cemetery, north of the hill of Ancient Axos. It is one of the many Byzantine churches of Axos, which flourished from the Greco-Roman era to the late Byzantine years.

Church of Saint Irene at Avgos

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The church of Agia Irini in the settlement Melisses in the valley of Avgos is dated to the 14th century and bears frescoes of 1410-1411. The temple is believed to have been a cathedral of a small female convent (nunnery)

Church of Saint John the Baptist in Kritsa

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The single-nave church of Saint John the Baptist (Agios Ioannis) is located in the cemetery of Kritsa. Its interior was frescoed in 1359-1360 at the expense of Ioannis Skordilis and its pictorial program is retained fragmentary. We distinguish scenes from the Evangelical cycle, the life of Christ, and ten scenes from the life of John the Baptist.

Holy Apostles church at Kato Karkassa

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The church of the Holy Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, is located at Kato Karkasa on the outskirts of the village Anatoli, province Ierapetra. The temple near the fountain was the cathedral of today's ruined Monastery of Karkassia, from which few traces of buildings to the south of the temple are preserved.

Asceticism

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