Patrick Comerford
I spent much of Holy Week and Easter in Rethymnon on a personal ‘mini-retreat’, following the Holy Week and Easter services, processions and liturgies, mainly in the Cathedral and the Church of the Four Martyrs.
Easter in Greece and in Britain and Ireland were at the same time this year, and there was time to visit churches in Rethymnon and the surrounding villages, and some of the churches in Iraklion too.
I have been visiting Rethymnon for almost 40 years, and on some years I have been there for Holy Week and Easter in Rethymnon and the neighbouring villages of Tsesmes, Platanias and Panormos.
1, The Cathedral, Mitropolis Square
Although Rethymnon is centuries old as a city, with classical, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman buildings around every corner, I know of no surviving remains of Rethymnon’s mediaeval cathedral, which was destroyed in a raid by Algerian corsairs in 1571.
The Cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple is a relatively new building. It occupies most of Mitropolis Square and was first built in 1834 on the site of an earlier church.
The second cathedral was badly damaged during World War II and was rebuilt as a miniature of Evangelistria, the great basilica on the island of Tinos, so that the present cathedral is refreshingly modern in appearance, both inside and outside.
The tall bell tower beside the cathedral was built in 1899 as a response by the Christians of Rethymnon to the tall minaret built beside the nearby Nerantzes Mosque. The money to build the bell tower was raised through selling postage stamps and a fundraising drive by the wine merchants of the town.
2, The Church of the Four Martyrs on Tessaron Martiron Square at night:
Immediately outside the walls of old town, beside the Porta Guora Gate, the largest church in Rethymnon is the Church of the Four Martyrs, which stands in a busy square of the same name, Tessaron Martiron.
The church is often mistaken as the cathedral and is a fashionable venue for baptisms and weddings at weekends. It was completed 50 years ago, on 28 December 1975, but stands on the site of two previous churches, the first from 1905 to 1947 and the second, which was demolished in 1972.
The church stands on the place where the four martyrs of Rethymnon were executed on 28 October 1824, and the bicentenary of their martyrdom was celebrated throughout last year. Throughout Greece, 28 October is a national holiday, ‘Οχι’ Day, recalling Greece’s trenchant ‘No’ to Mussolini that brought Greece into World War II on 28 October 1940. In Rethymnon, 28 October is also the day when the city recalls the Four Holy Martyrs who give their name to this church. The four were Crypto-Christians, all from the Vlatakis family and from the Melambes region, who were executed by the Turks on this spot in 1824 for standing up for their Christian faith.
For four months, Manouil, Nikolaos, Georgios and Angelis Vlatakis were held prisoner in the building at the old harbour that later housed the custom house. As they were taken to their place of execution outside the Porta Guora gate, with their hands tied up, they saw their executioner holding his sword, and heard him ask: ‘Will you adopt the Turkish faith?’ The standard answer was a humble ‘Yes, my Lord.’ But instead the first man in line surprised everyone with a scornful ‘No.’ A few seconds before his head was cut off, he added: ‘I was born a Christian and a Christian I will die.’ One by one, the others did the same. As each was executed, his dying words were ‘Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy.’
The central aisle of the church is dedicated to these four local saints. But the northern aisle is also dedicated to the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste – Roman soldiers, martyred in Armenia during the reign of Licinius in AD 320. The southern aisle is dedicated to the Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete who were beheaded by Decius in 250 AD.
3, Saint Anthony’s, Mitropolis Square
Tucked away in a quiet corner of Mitropolis Square, almost hidden by the awnings of the taverna next door, is the tiny, single-aisle Church of Saint Anthony, facing the east end of the cathedral.
The church was built in 1863 but looks much older and is decorated simply inside.
Nearby, in Mousoúrou Street, off the square, is the Bishop’s Palace, an impressive, symmetrical, palatial white neoclassical building renovated in 1900 at the expense of General Thedore de Chiostak, the commander of Russian troops in the town. Twin stairways lead to the entrance, while above there is a balcony on the upper floor.
Behind the Bishop’s Palace, the Diocesan Church Museum is usually open for two hours some days during the summer weeks.
4, Aghia Barbara, Aghia Barbara Street:
From the corner of the square opposite tiny Saint Anthony’s, halfway along Aghia Barbara Street, is the Church of Aghia Barbara, just a hundred metres from the cathedral.
The church was built in 1885 to replace an earlier Latin church of the same name, dating from at least 1613. That church, in turn, probably took its name from Saint Barbara’s Monastery, which once stood at the end of Arkadiou Street, on the site of the later Kara Musa Pasha Mosque.
Aghia Barbara is a cruciform church with a dome. The story of the painting of the church walls appears as an incident in A Tale of the Town by Pandelis Prevelakis. From 1898 until 1907, the church was used as the garrison church for the Russian troops in the town.
Behind the church, the former Girls’ School stands on the same grounds and has long been the town library. The blue flowers on top of the white wall that is shared by the church and library drop down on the other side into the gardens of Pepi Studios, where I have stayed in past years.
5, Saint Francis Church, Ethnikís Antistaseos Street:
The Archaeological Museum of Rethymnon is housed in the former Saint Francis Church, once the most important church in the Venetian town in Rethymnon. It stands on Ethnikís Antistaseos Street, almost at the junction of Tsouderon Street, where I have stayed twice during my times in Rethymnon.
Saint Francis is one of the few Western saints from the period after the great schism who is also revered in the Eastern Church. The church is also one of the most important examples in Crete of western European architecture, among the most important works of architecture in Rethymnon with its doorway, interiors, carvings and proportions.
During the Venetian period in Crete, many Franciscan churches were built in Crete, including Iraklion, Rethymnon, Chania and Neapolis. Petros Philargos, a friar of the Franciscan community in Iraklion, was born in Neapolis in eastern Crete and later became Pope Alexander V.
The Church of Saint Francis (Agios Frangiskos) in Rethymnon was the church of the Franciscan Friary in the town. It is a single-aisle, wooden-roof basilica. The ground floor windows and the main doorway seem to be of a later date than the main building. The elaborately – almost excessively – decorated ornate doorway is mainly Corinthian in style but includes the only example in Rethymnon of compound capitals, which are one of the five Renaissance styles.
The overlapping levels of the architrave help to date the doorway from the same time as both the doorway of Santa Maria Church and the Rimondi fountain, both only a few paces away. The keystone is notable for its large acanthus flower.
The church was used as an imaret or poorhouse during the Turkish occupation. It was used in the 1920s to provide shelter for Greek refugees from Anatolia. In more recent years it contained a number of shops, and then until 1996 it was used as an exhibition centre for the local city council. Careless and fruitless attempts at restoration work in the 1970s led to part of the building being demolished. However, recent excavations around the church unearthed some important archaeological discoveries, including the tombs of two Venetian nobles.
For a time, the building belonged to the University of Crete, and the latest plans are to use the former church to house the Byzantine Museum of Rethymnon and the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Collection of the Prefecture of Rethymnon. Meanwhile, it remains closed to the public.
6, Former Church of Santa Maria, Ethnikis Antistaseos:
The minaret of the Nerantze Mosque – the former Santa Maria Church – towers above the streets of the old town. The Nerantze Mosque or Gazi Hussein Mosque is on the corner of Ethnikis Antistaseos street and Vernardou streets, and faces onto Mikrasiaton Square, once the grand piazza of the old Venetian city.
In Venetian times, this was the Church of Santa Maria, and in the style of Saint Mark’s Square in Venice, it faced the large open piazza that included a clock tower, fountains and public buildings. Santa Maria was originally built in the Venetian period as the church of an Augustinian Priory. But only the east and north side of the original building survive.
The east side has round windows, while the elaborate entrance on the north side, which provides a glimpse of the original splendour of the church, has two tall narrow windows, similar to those in the nearby Saint Francis Church, and a monumental doorway whose design may have been inspired by Roman triumphal arches. The wide entrance is flanked by a pair of columns with Corinthian capitals.
Inside the church, the floor plan is square. During the Turkish era, the original peaked and tiled Venetian roof was replaced by three small domes.
When the town fell to the Turks in 1657, the church was converted into a mosque by Gazi Huseyin Pasha, and three domes were added to the building although it retained its original elaborate entrance. This became the largest mosque in Rethymnon, and in 1890, shortly before Crete became an autonomous state, work began on building the tallest minaret in the town.
After the Turks left Crete, the mosque was reconsecrated as a church in 1925 with a dedication to Saint Nicholas. However, it was seldom if ever used as a church, and for many years housed a Music School. Now known as the Odeio, it is used for lectures, concerts and theatre performances, and is open to the public, although the minaret has been closed for restoration in recent years and is cladded in scaffolding.
7, Former Saint Barbara’s Monastery (Kara Musa Pasha Mosque):
When the Church of Aghia Barbara was built on Aghia Barbara Street in 1885 to replace an earlier Latin church of the same name, dating from at least 1613. That church, in turn, probably took its name from Saint Barbara’s Monastery, which once stood at the east end of Arkadiou Street, on the site of the later Kara Musa Pasha Mosque.
The courtyard includes a fountain, some tombstones, and a vaulted grave that probably belongs to the founder of the mosque, Kara Musa Pasha. The mosque remains in good condition, but all that is left of the minaret is a stump.
Kara Musa Pasha was an Ottoman soldier and Bosnian statesman who was named grand vizier by Sultan Ibrahim 16 September 1647 after the execution of Nevesinli Salih Pasha. He held office for only five days, until 21 September 1647, and he was executed in 1649 on the orders of the queen regent, Kösem Sultan, who was born a Greek, perhaps in Rethymnon.
After the Turks capture Rethymno in 1646, a church near the Porta Guora or Great Gate of the Venetian city was converted to a mosque and named the Valide Sultan Mosque in her honour, making her the first Ottoman noblewoman whose name was given to one of a conquered city’s converted religious structures.
8, Saint Constantine and Saint Helen:
The Church of Saint Constantine and Saint Helen is a modern, neo-Byzantine church above the bus station in Rethymnon. It dominates the streetscape on the western fringes of Rethymon, looking down on the waters of the bay formed by the western slopes of the Venetian Fortezza.
Few tourists notice this church as they wait to catch buses to Chania to the west or Iraklion to the east, and few notice it as they sit watching the sunset in the rocky bay below the Fortezza. But this is a busy parish church, built in the neo-Byzantine style in the 1960s.
Saint Constantine and Saint Helen, also known as ‘Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles,’ and Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen, are celebrated together because Helen is Constantine’s mother.
The Emperor Constantine, who is referred to as a ‘sovereign to the Christians,’ was the son of Constantius Chlorus, who ruled part of the Empire, and the Empress Helen. Constantine was born in 272 and he became Emperor when his father died in 306. In 312, he learned that his opponent, Maxentius, was marching to Italy. Shortly after that, it is said, Christ appeared to him in a dream and told Constantine about the cross and its significance.
After the dream, Constantine ordered that his victory banner be inscribed with the Cross and the name of Christ. On 28 October, he defeated Maxentius in battle. He rode on to and was declared to Emperor of the West, while his brother-in-law, Licinius, became Emperor of the East. Under rule, Christianity really took root. Constantine called the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325.
After Constantine’s victory, his mother, the Empress Helen, travelled to Jerusalem and is said to have found the True Cross. Saint Constantine and Saint Helen share a feast day on 21 May, and the Feast Day of the Elevation of the Cross is on 14 September.
9 and 10, the twin churches in Platanias and Tsesmes:
For six years or more, I stayed in the suburban areas of Platanias and Tsesmes, east of Rethymnon. This area is a mix of suburban, commercial, and slowly developing tourism.
The shops and supermarkets cater primarily for the local residents, but there are a number of small hotels and apartment blocks where I have stayed, including La Stella, Varvara’s Diamond, and Julia Apartments, and a choice of good restaurants and cafés.
These two villages have merged almost seamlessly, and although they have two churches, they form one parish, served by one priest, Father Dimitrios Tsakpinis.
Saint Nektarios in Tsemes and the Church of the Holy Trinity in Platanias are recently-built churches: the church in Platanias dates from 1959 and the church in Tsesmes from 1979. They are small, and in many ways, unremarkable churches, compared to the older, more historic churches in the old town of Rethymnon. But when I stayed in Platanias and Tsesmes, I saw them as my parish churches, and I always been welcomed warmly.
11, The Church of the Ascension and Saint George, Panormos:
Panormos is 20 km to the east of Rethymnon, and over the years it has become something of personal tradition to have lunch there on Sunday afternoon when I am staying in the Rethymnon area. It is picture-postcard Greece, with neat blue-and-white doors and windows, colourful overhanging bougainvillea and hibiscus, old vines draped across crumbling gates, boutique hotels and shops, cobbled streets, ruined mediaeval Milopotamos castle, its small beaches and an old harbour.
To the south-west of the village, a small road goes under the main road from Rethymnon to Iraklion and leads along a narrow country road to the remains of the Basilica of Aghia Sophia. It was built in the fifth or sixth century and was once the largest church in Western Crete, an indication of how Panormos was an important Church centre in early Christian times.
But the church most visitors see in Panormos is the recently-built church dedicated to the Ascension (Analipsi) and Saint George (Agios Georgios). Although it is a relatively small church, its dome has a modern, majestic fresco of Christ the Pantocrator that is one of the finest I know in Crete.
The church stands beside the ruins of the Castle of Milopotamos (Castello di Milopotamo), which stands above the harbour. It was built by the Genoese pirate Henry Pescatore ca 1206-1212. It later had passed to the Venetians and was seized by the Turks in 1647 as they marched from Rethymnon on Iraklion. Today, the ruins above the beach and harbour have been reduced to a small part of thecastle walls and the ruins of the castle church.
12, The Church of Saint Agathopodos, Panoromos
The large church in Panormos is named after Saint Agathopodos or Agathapos, and was built in recent years. I particularly want at some stage to see the large fresco of the Theotokos in the apse of the church. It is four metres high and was completed in 2019 by my friend the Rethymnon-based icon writer Alexandra Kaouki and has been highly praised.
However, I have been disappointed on two successive visits to that the church was closed each Sunday afternoon.
Saint Agathopodos (23 December) is one of the Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete – Theodulus, Saturninus, Euporus, Gelasius, Eunician, Zoticus, Pompius, Agathopodos, Basilides and Evaristus – who suffered in the mid-third century during the reign of the Emperor Decius (249-251).
The governor of Crete, also named Decius, had these 10 arrested in different places in Crete, including Agathopodos or Agathapos from Panormos. They were put on trial and they were tortured for 30 days before being beheaded in Alonion, the main amphitheatre of Gortyn. Saint Paul of Constantinople (6 November) visited Crete about 100 years later and moved their relics to Constantinople.
A major part of my delight in visiting the churches and cathedrals of Rethymnon over almost four decades, has been the sound of the bells of so many of them ringing across the city throughout each day.
Even more moving is knowing that so many of these churches are open for visits by local people, by tourists, by the curious, and most importantly are open for prayer … and not just on Sunday mornings.
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