Patrick Comerford
Saint Peter’s Church is an imposing Gothic church set amid the ruins of a former Dominican monastery, close to the Venetian walls and old Venetian harbour of Iraklion, looking out towards the blue waters of the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean.
Saint Peter’s Monastery (Μονή Αγίου Πέτρου) was built in the 12th century in the early years of Venetian rule in Crete (1211-1669), and it was one of the most important and largest Latin churches in Iraklion. It is located next to the sea wall, between the Venetian port and the Dermata gate, on the corner of the coastal boulevard, Leoforos Sofokli Venizelou, and Mitsotakis street, at the west end of the old Venetian city.
The site is much older than the arrival of the Dominicans with the Venetians, however. During recent excavations in the wider Kastella area around the church, graves from the second Byzantine period in Crete (961-1205 CE) came to light and an extended dwelling dating back to the Arabic period (824-961 CE) was unearthed underneath them.
Saint Peter’s was first a Cistercian monastic foundation in the early 13th century, and it later passed to the Dominicans or Order of Preachers.
Some sources say the church was dedicated to Saint Peter of Aragon, but this is most unlikely: Saint Pedro Armengol died in 1304 and was not canonised until 1687, while Saint Pedro de Arbués died in 1485 and was not canonised until 1867. As the church long predates both men, and neither was canonised until after the Turkish conquest of Crete, it seems in all probability that the church was dedicated to Saint Peter the Apostle.
Saint Peter’s and Aghios Nikolaos in Splantzia Square, Chania, are regarded as the two most important Catholic institutions Crete, with their Gothic character and their bold architectural innovations.
Saint Peter’s Church has a rough-hewn stone exterior with Gothic windows, stone buttresses, stone trim, barrel-vaulted chapels, and a gabled roof. It has a long aisle with a sloped roofed that leads up to a sanctuary or chancel with two vaults, with side chapels.
The church was later extended to the north and west and the Venetians gradually added four chapels side-by-side at the south side, each with tombs. Although Saint Mark’s in the centre of the city was the Catholic cathedral during the period of Venetian rule, many prominent members of the Venetian nobility in Crete were buried at Saint Peter’s, including four Dukes of Crete in the 14th century: Marco Gradenigo (1331), Giovanni Morosini (1338), Marino Grimani (1348) and Fillippo Orio (1357).
Frescoes from the 15th century survive in one chapel, and another chapel has an extra entrance. Some of the features identified during the restoration works have been compared with similar churches in Silvanes, Venzone and Rieti in France and Italy.
The middle aisle had large dimensions: 54 m long, 15 m wide and 12m high. This, combined with the absence of buttresses, seems to have contributed to the partial collapse of the church three times in earthquakes in the 14th, 16th and 18th centuries.
Yet, despite severe damage in the earthquake that hit Crete in 1508, many of the early frescoes have survived and have been recovered.
The Dermata Gate west of the church was completed between 1590 and 1595, between the San Andrea bastion and the Sabbionara bastion. It was also called Giudecca or Judaica or Jewish Gate because it was beside the Jewish quarter of Chandax. The imposing façade of the Gate of Dermata and its entire southern part have since been demolished and Skordilon Street was built in its place.
During the Ottoman period, the monastery was partly destroyed, the church was converted into a mosque dedicated to the memory of Sultan Ibrahim, additional windows were inserted in the north and south walls, and a minaret was added at the south-west corner of the church.
An earthquake in the 18th century destroyed the roof, most of the north wall, the north-east chapel from the 14th century, the southwest chapel from the 15th century, the east cross-section with part of the three-light window, the north-west outer pillar and the upper part of the west wall of the church.
After Turkish rule came to end in Crete in 1898, the former church became a cinema but later fell into ruins, and for a time it appeared like a crumbling eyesore on the seafront, between the Venetian Harbour and the Dermatas Gate.
It was acquired by the parish of Agios Dimitrios Limenos for use as a church, and was renamed Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Eventually, the Ministry of Culture decided to restore it as historical monument, to open it to visitors and to declare the grounds a Byzantine archaeological site.
The restoration of the church, its side chapels and the annexes was completed in 2012. The restoration project uncovered many Ottoman elements, including the mosque’s mihrab, pebbled floors and a ceramic kiln. Many of the finds from the excavations are exhibited in the Historical Museum in Iraklion.
Since its restoration, the church has hosted a number of religious conferences and exhibitions, and the Ministry of Culture allows the church to hold a service each year on the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
