A saint’s icon from Crete brings my mind back to a church in Thessaloniki

Saint Dimitrios of Thessaloniki … a new icon by Alexandra Kaouki of Rethymnon

Patrick Comerford

I was posting preaching and liturgical resources this morning on another forum for next Sunday, which is All Saints’ Day (1November 2020), and later in the day was working on my Sunday sermon. As I thought about the saints that have been influential in my own spiritual growth and life, I was reminded that today in Greece is the feast day of Saint Dimitrios of Thessaloniki (Άγιος Δημήτριος της Θεσσαλονίκης), one of the most popular saints and martyrs in the Greek Orthodox Church.

I was reminded of the popularity of Saint Dimitrios throughout Greece this morning by a new icon of the saint by my friend Alexandra Kaouki, the icon-writer with a studio in Rethymnon in Crete.

I have missed a number of planned visits to Greece this year because of the pandemic lockdown. But seeing her icon this morning brought me back not only to her studio below the Fortezza in Rethymnon but also to my many recent visits to Thessaloniki. The most famous church in the city is the Church of Aghios Dimitrios, named after the martyred Roman soldier who is the city’s patron saint and whose feast day is today (26 October).

The church was first built as a small oratory shortly after the year 313 on the ruins of a Roman bath and on the site of the saint’s martyrdom ten years earlier on the orders of the Emperor Galerius.

A new church was built on the same site in the fifth century. This was a large, three-aisled basilica, but was burnt down in 634. Soon after, the present five-aisled basilica was built on the site, and it remains the largest church in Greece.

The Church of Aghios Dimitrios often serves as the de facto cathedral of Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Byzantine sources record that the city’s patron, Saint Demetrios, was also venerated in the Church of the Panagia Acheiropoietos (Παναγία Ἀχειροποίητος) is a fifth-century Byzantine church in the city centre, at Aghias Sofias Street, opposite Makedonomachon square, a short distance to the north of Egnatia Street.

The Church of Aghios Dimitrios became a mosque in 1493, but it was restored to Christian worship in 1912. It was destroyed by fire again in 1917, but restoration work began immediately after the catastrophe of 1917.

Very few fragments of sculptures, mosaics or frescoes survived the fire of 1917, but those that have survived are representative of the successive phases of the church’s history.

Items that survived the 1917 fire and others that came to light during recent excavations include:

● The fountain of the holy water and holy oil associated with the cult of Saint Dimitrios.
● Architectural sculptures, including columns and parapets, from the first architectural phase of the church in the fifth century.
● Corinthian-style capitals from the first architectural phase of the church.
● Two small fifth century pillars from the sanctuary.
● The restored ambo (pulpit) of the church; it dates from the sixth century, and in the seventh century was placed in the wall where it is now exhibited.
● Fragments of middle Byzantine sarcophagi.
● Fragments of icons of the Virgin Mary from the 11th and 12th century relief decoration of the church.
● Fragments of a 13th century ciborium.
● Decorative fragments from a 14th century burial monument.
● A mosaic votive inscription from the decoration of the church destroyed by the 1917 fire.

Today, the church often functions as the de facto cathedral of Thessaloniki.

The crypt under the sanctuary and the transept is said to be the place where the saint was martyred, and has been an archaeological site since it was discovered in 1918.

The remains of Saint Dimitrios were returned from Italy in 1980 and are part of the exhibition open to the public, with items that survived the 1917 fire and others that came to light during recent excavations:

Inside the Church of Saint Dimitrios … rebuilt after the catastrophic fire in 1917 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Missing two weeks in north-east Greece as another trip is cancelled

I was hoping to spend these two weeks at the Country Inn Hotel in Kalithea on the Kassandra peninsula in Halkidi

Patrick Comerford

I should be in Dublin Airport right now, waiting for Flight FR 1390, leaving Dublin at 7:45 this morning and arriving Thessaloniki 13:40 Greek time this afternoon [24 September 2020].

I was planning to spend these two weeks in Greece, staying at the Country Inn Hotel in Kalithea. Instead, this is one of the very few years since the mid-1980s that I have not visited Greece at least once a year, if not more. Earlier in the year, I had planned to be in Crete for Greek Easter, but now both of those plans have been cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I have been in Thessaloniki many times, and was looking forward to not only enjoying walks through the city, along the seafront and up into Monastery of Vlatadon above the city in the Ano Poli. I had also thought of a visit to Mount Athos, as well as Philippi, Mount Olympus, the royal tombs at Vergina, and sites associated with Alexander the Great.

I was booked into the Country Inn Hotel in Kalithea, 85 km from Thessaloniki, for these two weeks. It stands above Toronaios Bay, overlooking Sithonia.

It looked like a promising base for this holiday in Halkidiki. It boasts of the beauty of the landscape and the sea views, as well as its hospitality and comfort.

The Country Inn hotel is built in a traditional style close to endless beaches with crystal clear waters, enchanting bays, rocky formations and mountains with coniferous trees. There were promises of long country walks, swimming in turquoise waters, and the view of the endless blue of Toroneos Bay.

Kallithea is on the east side of Kassandra peninsula and its name means ‘good view’ because it is built on a steep slope overlooking the sea. Archaeological sites in the immediate area include the sanctuary of Ammon Zeus, dating from the 4th century BC, and the sanctuary of Dionysus and the Nymphs.

Kassandra peninsula is the western-most of the three headlands of Halkidiki. In classical times it was known as Pallene and is said to have been known in ancient times as Phlegra.

The peninsula takes its name from Cassandra, said to have been a daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy; her older brother was Hector, hero of the Greco-Trojan war.

In Late Antiquity, the centre of the peninsula was the city of Cassandreia, at the site of ancient Potidaia. A city and a bishopric at Cassandreia was destroyed by the Huns in 539 or 540 AD.

Kassandra was one of the areas that rebelled against the Ottoman Turks in 1821. Because it managed to stop the Turkish army from fighting the rebels in southern Greece, it was burnt from edge to edge. The refugees moved to the islands of Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and Evoia. Noone lived in the peninsula for more than 30 years. But people started to returned once again, and in 1912 it became a part of Greece.

Tourism began to develop in the decades after World War II and the Greek Civil War, and developed rapidly, in 1980s, becoming the primary part of the economy of the peninsula.

A major forest fire on 22 August 2006 that affected the central and the southern parts of the peninsula. There was a heatwave that day, when temperatures soared to almost 40 C. Several houses were destroyed including villas and hotels, and one campground disappeared, along with many areas of natural beauty.

The forest fire lasted for almost five days and devastated the economy and the peninsula. But the forests began to recover in recent years and oday, the beaches of Halkidiki are among the most beautiful in Greece – 46 have Blue Flags, including the beaches of Afytos and Kallithea.

I was planning to return to Ireland on a flight from Thessaloniki to Dublin at the end of next week, on Friday 4 September. Instead, I am going to spend much of this week and next week on a road trip through many parts of Munster and south Leinster, including some of my favourite places in Ireland and places that have played key roles in my life story.

But more of that later today as I set out on the first stage of this road trip.

I was looking forward to two weeks at the Country Inn Hotel in Kalithea on the Kassandra peninsula in Halkidi

Waiting for the ferry with memories of Crete and ‘Who pays the Ferryman’

‘Who pays the Ferryman’ was filmed in Elounda (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

As we have waited patiently on both sides of the Shannon Estuary in recent weeks for the Tarbert-Killimer ferry on many occasions, the conversation has often turned to the theme music for Who pays the Ferryman, and one of us has – inevitably – ended up trying to hum the tune.

I suppose you have to be of a certain age to remember the series, but the tune stays in your memory. And memories of the series linger because it was set in Crete in 1977-1978, just ten years before I first arrived on the island.

Who pays the Ferryman was a BBC series, retelling the story of widower and retired boat builder Alan Haldane (Jack Hedley), a former soldier who had fought in Crete alongside the Greek resistance in World War II, and returns to Crete 30 years later to rediscover a lost sense of belonging.

Of course, his past comes back to haunt the man once known as Leandros and make difficult what he hopes would be a simple life.

The series was filmed in Elounda, near Aghios Nikolaos in Crete. The theme music was composed by Yannis Markopoulos and became an instant hit in Britain, where it is still rated among the best television scores. The music stands out because of its lyricism and its melody and of because it so easily creates memories of the Greek islands.

The eight episodes of Who Pays the Ferryman? were written by Michael J Bird, who drew on his knowledge of the history and folklore of Crete, and the series was filmed on location in and around Elounda.

‘The Lotus Eaters’ was filmed in Aghios Nikolaos in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The series followed on the success of Bird’s earlier BBC drama series, The Lotus Eaters, which was filmed in Aghios Nikoloas in 1972-1973. That earlier series deal with the lives of various British ‘expats’ living in Crete, including a married couple, Erik (Ian Hendry) and Ann Shepherd (Wanda Ventham), who ran a taverna called ‘Shepherd’s Bar.’

The Lotus Eaters became the first the Mediterranean-based dramas written by Michael J Bird for the BBC. The others included Who Pays the Ferryman?, also set in Crete, The Aphrodite Inheritance (1978-1979), set in Cyprus, and The Dark Side of the Sun, set in Rhodes.

The theme tune of Who Pays the Ferryman? was composed by Yannis Markopoulos, reached the UK singles charts in late 1977 and early 1978. Yannis (or Giannis) Markopoulos is a well-known and much-loved Greek composer who was born in Iraklion, the capital of Crete, on 18 March 1939.

He comes from an old family in Crete, and spent much of his childhood in the coastal town of Ierapetra. He says the sounds that influenced him during his childhood included the sounds of the Byzantine liturgy, Cretan traditional music, the waves of Crete, and the sound of land-mines being exploded after World War II.

He took his first lessons in music theory and the violin at the local conservatory and played the clarinet in the town band. He moved to Athens in 1956 to study at the Athens Conservatoire with the composer Yiorgos Sklavos and the violin teacher Joseph Bustidui.

As a student, Markopoulos composed music for theatre, cinema and dance performances. At 24, he received the Music Prize at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival for Nikos Koundouros’ film Young Aphrodites.

After the colonels’ coup in Greece in 1967, he left for London, where he composed the secular cantata Ilios o Protos (‘Sun the First’), based on the poetry of Odysseas Elytis, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979.

Markopoulos returned to Athens in 1969, and became involved in the struggle for democracy. In 1976, he composed the popular work The Free Besieged based on the poem by Greece’s national poet Dionysios Solomos.

A small boat outside the harbour in Elounda (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

He composed the theme music for Who Pays the Ferryman? in 1979, and it became a hit in Britain and brought his work to international attention. He married the singer Vassiliki Lavina in 1980.

He founded the Palintonos Armonia Orchestra in 1980, and has performed and recorded in Greece and abroad since then. He composed The Liturgy of Orpheus in 1994, followed by Re-Naissance: Crete between Venice and Constantinople, a musical journey in four units that strikes a balance between the opera form and that of the oratorio, and the opera Erotokritos and Areti.

As time passes and travel restrictions become difficult to predict, it looks increasingly likely that this could be one of the few years since the mid-1980s that I do not get back to Greece.

I may just have to find some old versions of that BBC series set in Crete and imagine myself on a ferry or as a lotus eater.

‘Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here …he burns with holy fire’

Every experience of the Divine Liturgy should be one of awe, standing at the gate of heaven

Patrick Comerford

As I prepare on a Saturday for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, to preside at the Eucharist, I am sometimes taken aback or find myself in child-like awe of what is before me the following morning.

Tomorrow’s first reading (Genesis 28: 10-19a) is a reminder that we can encounter God anywhere and everywhere, in the most unexpected places. But wherever it happens, that place is an awesome place, none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

A popular hymn by Dave Evans opens with the lines:

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here.
Come bow before him now, with reverence and fear.

For every priest, the Divine Liturgy should be an experience that brings about awe, and that brings us to the gate of heaven.

The book Experiences during Divine Liturgy (Εμπειρίες κατά την Θεία Λειτουργία), by the Greek priest Father Stephanos K Anagnostopoulos, is a treasure that combines explanations of the Orthodox Liturgy with memorable stories throughout.

This book is more than a manual as it weaves together liturgy and mysticism, the public prayer of the Church and personal insights into spirituality. At times, these stories mix personal experience of the Liturgy with the priest’s accounts of miracles and encounters with the Divine.

A story from this book was retold on her Facebook page yesterday (17 July 2020) by my friend the icon writer Alexandra Kaouki, who runs her workshop and studio beneath the slopes of the Fortezza in the old town of Rethymnon on the island of Crete:

Once upon a time, a married priest was holding by the hand a five-year-old boy, his own child, as they went to church for Vespers.

The small child, as he was walking with his father, kept saying something, until in the end – and completely unexpectedly – he asked this question:

‘Why, Dad, in Divine Liturgy, when it comes to sanctifying the Holy Communion, you keep crying?

‘And then you go up flying into the sky and come down again holding a lot of fire in your hands?

‘And why do you put it on the bread first and then in Holy Chalice with the wine?

‘Why aren’t you burning? I never saw your hands burnt!!!’

The priest stopped, speechless by the surprise, and then, terrified, he asked his child: ‘When did you see all this, my child?’

‘Here, the other day when it was Sunday!’ the small child replied.

And then the priest tells his child very seriously: ‘Be careful, my child, don’t tell that to anyone until I die. Do you hear? to anyone!!!’

‘Well, dad ... to ... kiss a cross!’

And he shaped the cross with his little fingers and kissed it.

This was told by the very child, who was now a 50-year-old man, about his priest father.

In Greek, the story reads:

Κάποτε ένας έγγαμος ιερεύς κρατώντας από το χεράκι ένα πεντάχρονο αγοράκι, το δικό του παιδί, πήγαινε στην εκκλησία για τον Εσπερινό.

Ο μικρός, καθώς βάδιζε με τον πατέρα του, όλο και κάτι έλεγε, ώσπου στο τέλος και εντελώς απροσδόκητα έκανε την εξής ερώτηση:

Γιατί, μπαμπά, στη Θεία Λειτουργία, όταν πρόκειται να αγιάσης τη Θεία κοινωνία, όλο κλαίς;

Και ύστερα ανεβαίνεις πετώντας στον ουρανό και κατεβαίνεις πάλι κρατώντας πολλή φωτιά στα χέρια σου;

Και γιατί πρώτα τη βάζεις πάνω στο ψωμάκι και ύστερα στο Άγιο Ποτήριο με το κρασάκι;

Γιατί δεν καίγεσαι;

Εγώ τα χεράκια σου δεν τα είδα ποτέ καμμένα!!!

Ο αγιασμένος εκείνος παπούλης σταμάτησε άφωνος από την έκπληξη και ύστερα έντρομος ρώτησε το παιδί του: Ποτέ τα είδες όλα αυτά, παιδάκι μου;

Να, προχθές που ήταν Κυριακή! απάντησε ο μικρός.

Και τότε ο ιερεύς λέγει στο παιδί του πολύ σοβαρά: Πρόσεξε, παιδάκι μου, μην τα πεις αυτά σε κανέναν, μέχρι να πεθάνω. Ακούς; σε κανέναν!!!

Καλά, μπαμπά... Να... φιλάω και σταυρό!

(Και έκανε το σχήμα του σταυρού με τα δαχτυλάκια του και το φίλησε).

Αυτά μου τα διηγήθηκε το ίδιο το παιδάκι, που ήταν πλέον άνδρας πενηντάρης, για τον ιερέα πατέρα του.

The second verse of that popular hymn by Dave Evans opens with the lines:

Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around;
he burns with holy fire, with splendour he is crowned.

For every priest, the Divine Liturgy should be an experience that brings us to the gate of heaven … a celebration of the Divine Liturgy in a church in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Sunday intercessions on 14 June 2020 (Trinity I)

A modern version of Andrei Rublev’s icon, the Visitation of Abraham, in Saint Thomas’s Church, the Anglican church in in Kefalas, on the Greek island of Crete

These intercessions were prepared for the First Sunday after Trinity, 14 June 2020, in the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes. However, the churches have been closed temporarily because of the Covid-19 pandemic:

Let us pray:

Loving Father, you ask us:
‘Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? (Genesis 18: 14).

Comfort all who are victims of racism;
challenge us when we become too comfortable; give us hope for all that is wonderful.

Comfort those who are isolated and alone;
sustain and protect frontline workers;

Give hope to schools and places of education,
give wisdom to our government,
guide all who make difficult decisions,
help us to protect our communities and ourselves.

Give wisdom to all people
crying for justice,
condemning racism,
seeking peace.

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

Lord Jesus Christ:
you send us out to proclaim the good news,
‘The kingdom of heaven has come near’ (Matthew 10: 7):

We pray for the Church,
that we may share that life generously and in abundance.

We pray for churches that are closed this morning,
that the hearts of the people may remain open
to the love of God, and to the love of others.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray this week
for the (Anglican) Church of the Province of Myanmar,
and the Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo,
Archbishop of Myanmar and Bishop of Yangon.

In the Church of Ireland, we pray this month for
the Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh,
and for Bishop Ferran Glenfield.

We pray for our Bishop Kenneth;

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer,
we pray for the Tubercurry Group of Parishes
in the Diocese of Tuam,
the priest-in-charge, the Revd Peter Norman,
and the congregations of Saint George’s, Tubbercurry, and Killoran (Rathbarron).

Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

Holy Spirit,
‘God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us’ (Romans 5: 5):

We pray for ourselves and for our needs,
for healing, restoration and health,
in body, mind and spirit.

We give thanks for new life …
We give thanks for the birth of baby Matilda Dorothy Caroline, born on 4 May, weighing 8 lb 13 oz …
and ask for your blessings on her parents, William and Karen Langford …
her sister Chloe Dorothy …
her cousins, uncles and aunts …

We pray for one another,
for those who are alone and lonely …
for those who are sick, at home or in hospital …
Alan ... Ajay … Charles … Tom …
Lorraine … James … Terry … Maria …
Niall … Linda ... Basil … Simon …

We pray for those who have broken hearts …
for those who live with disappointment …
We pray for all who are to be baptised,
We pray for all preparing to be married,
We pray for those who are about to die …

We pray for those who mourn and grieve…
we remember those who have died recently …
may their memories be a blessing …

We pray for those who have asked for our prayers …
and for those we have offered to pray for …

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

A reflection on the First Sunday after Trinity
in the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG,
United Society Partners in the Gospel:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble (Psalm 46: 1, NRSV).

Merciful Father, …

A new interpretation of Andrei Rublev’s icon of the Visitation of Abraham

The Visitation of Abraham … a new interpretation by Kelly Latimore of a well-known icon by Andrei Rublev

Patrick Comerford

Throughout the lockdown that is part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, I have continued the practice of preparing my Sunday morning sermons, and have posted them on my blog, my Facebook page and the parish Facebook page each week.

We are in the weeks immediately after Trinity Sunday, and there is a Trinitarian theme in many of the readings these Sundays.

Richard Rohr, the Franciscan theologian and spiritual writer talks about the Trinity as ‘God for us, God alongside us, God within us.’

The first reading tomorrow (Genesis 18: 1-15 [21: 1-7]) tells the story of the angelic visitors to Abraham and Sarah at the oaks of Mamre, often interpreted as an early manifestation of God as Trinity. This interpretation has become a regular way of reading this passage through the popularisation of Andrei Rublev’s icon of this scene, which is copied in churches and monasteries around the world and used to illustrate many books on theology.

In the last few days, as I was putting the final touches to tomorrow’s sermon, I came across this version of the Visitation of Abraham or Rublev’s Trinity by the American artist Kelly Latimore, who became well-known recently for his portrayal of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt as refugees trying to travel from Central or Latin America into the US.

I found this interpretation of Andrei Rublev’s icon this week on the Facebook page of Saint Thomas’s Anglican Church in Kefalas, on the Greek island of Crete.

This icon by Kelly Latimore was a commissioned by the Revd Dr Mark Bozzuti-Jones, a Jamaican-born priest on the pastoral team at Trinity Wall Street Church in New York.

As humans, we really can only talk about God through metaphor. Speaking and language itself is simply metaphor. The common western notion of God has been monarchical and so both God the Father and Christ are often imagined or depicted sitting on thrones, although the theology of the Trinity is about the interior relationship or indwelling of God as Trinity.

Rublev’s icon was original in its time, imagining this Triune relationship, drawing on the story of the three angels who visit Abraham and Sarah. His icon shows the three angels sitting at the table, each angel representing the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Rublev was using the metaphors he had to depict the Trinity in the form of an icon.

Mark Bozzuti-Jones and Kelly Latimore collaborated on an interpretation of Rublev’s icon that Mark that was based on this well-known icon but with an understanding of metaphors of God that allowed them to see the angels as women without problems, yet allowing an but an important exploration of God as mother/sister/feminine.

The three figures are sitting at the table, but this time they are holding hands. The Christ figure is in the centre, bridging the Holy Spirit and the first Person of the Trinity.

In traditional iconography, blue always represents divinity (the sea and the sky) and red is humanity (blood). God the first person of the Trinity is on the left in bright heavenly robes, points towards the viewer and looks at the other seated figures, acknowledging the viewer’s presence.

The Holy Spirit is dressed in green, representing growth, wilderness, nature, the earth, she holds out her hand inviting the viewer to the table.

On the table the rainbow tablecloth is yet another metaphor, symbolising that at the table of the Trinity all people are welcome. Instead of the Eucharist, as in Rublev’s version, there are grapes and wheat, symbolising the work that is still to be done.

In the background, we see a Temple, where God dwells, a tree representing Christ crucified, and a mountain symbolising the spirit calling us out into the wilderness, towards a new way.

Kelly Latimore started painting icons in 2011 while he was a member of the Common Friars from 2009 to 2013. Their collective work was about being more connected – to themselves, to each other, to their surrounding community and to the land.

However, he says, he does not wish to approach iconography as an art form that simply follows an inherited tradition, knowledge and practice. ‘I want it to be a creative process, meditation, and practice that brings about new self-knowledge for the viewer and myself. Who are the saints that are among us here and now?’

Kelly feels the need for new images. So, in some icons he seeks to embrace the traditional forms and images. But for many icons he believes the images need re-shaping, re-imagining, and re-wondering.

He says, ‘I was not taught by a traditional iconographer, and so to some, I am breaking many rules. There are icons here that people may find theologically unsound and wrong, or for others, helpful and inspiring. I think both reactions are important. My hope is that these icons do what all art can potentially do, which is, to create more dialogue.’

He hopes that, ‘by transcending our biases, listening and having inner silence about our convictions, our inherited traditions, or our favourite ideas we can become open to the patterns of work, knowledge and experience we may not have seen in the other or buried in ourselves.’

Prints are available here: https://www.artpal.com/KLicons

The Holy Family as Refugees … an icon by Kelly Latimore

A ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen more churches in Crete on a lost ‘lockdown’ Easter

Greek churches in a souvenir shop in Koutouloufari (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I had planned to visit Greece for Holy Week and Easter, which falls this weekend in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church. But the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has cancelled all my travel plans.

I am still hoping to visit Thessaloniki and Halkidiki at the end of August and beginning of September. But still hope I can plan in a few weeks’ time to visit Crete later this year.

Meanwhile, to mark Easter in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church this weekend, I offer a ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen churches and chapels Crete, in the spirit of my recent ‘virtual tours’ of a dozen churches in Thessaloniki, a dozen monasteries in Crete, a dozen churches in Rethymnon, and a dozen restaurants in Rethymnon.

For historical reasons, Crete, like some other Greek islands, stands outside the Church of Greece and is part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Archbishop of Crete is based in Iraklion.

Christianity in Crete traces its origins to the mission of the Apostle Paul and his companion Saint Titus, who is seen as the first Bishop of Crete, and the head of Saint Titus is an important relic in one of the oldest churches in Iraklion.

The first church dedicated to Saint Titus was that in the old capital Gortyn, which also housed the metropolitan see of the island until it was destroyed in an earthquake.

1, Agios Minas Cathedral, Iraklion:

The Cathedral of Agios Minas … the seat of the Archbishop of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Cathedral of Agios Minas (῾Ιερός Μητροπολιτικός Ναός ῾Αγίου Μηνᾶ) in Iraklion is the seat of the Archbishop of Crete.

Saint Minas the martyr and wonder-worker (285-309), is the patron saint and protector of Iraklion, the capital of Crete. His feast day on 11 November is a public holiday in Crete.

This is the largest cathedral or church in Crete, and one of the largest in Greece. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral.

The site of the cathedral was once the garden of a local Turk. The architect, Athanassios Moussis, was also the architect of Agios Titos.

Inside the cathedral in Iraklion, one of the largest in Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The cathedral was built over time, from 1862 to 1895, but building work was interrupted during the Cretan Revolution in 1866-1869. Building work resumed in 1883, and the cathedral was completed in 1895.

The church has a cruciform shape with a central dome. The external maximum dimensions are 43.20 metres long and 29.50 wide. Inside, this is a three-aisle basilica. The right aisle is dedicated to Saint Titos and the left one to the Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete.

There are two bell towers, one in the north-east corner and the other in the south-east corner.

The small Church of Agios Minas stands beside the cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The smaller, older church of Agios Minas and Pantanassa stands beside the cathedral. This church is known to have existed in the Venetian period. An interesting feature is a Gothic window in the north aisle, survives today. After the Turkish occupation of Crete, the church fell into disuse until 1735, when it was refurbished as the metropolitan church or cathedral of Iraklion.

The church had two aisles roofed with two arches. The north aisle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the south aisle to Saint Minas. The carved, wooden iconostasis or icon screen on the north aisle is gold plated. Many of the icons are the work of 18th century Cretan icon painters.

This church is connected with one of the major atrocities in the history Crete. In June 1821, the Turks slaughtered Bishop Gerasimo Pardali and many priests and lay people inside the church and in its precincts.

The church was damaged by an earthquake in 1856, and was restored and renovated a year later. However, by the mid-19th century, it was too small to serve as a cathedral for the growing Christian community in Iraklion.

Saint Minas and the church feature in a number of books by Nikos Kazantzakis, including Report to Greco, in which he writes, ‘whenever the Turks sharpened their knives and prepared to fall upon the Christians, Saint Minas sprang from his icon once more in order to protect the citizens of Megalo Kastro (Iraklion) ... For the Kastrians (the people of Iraklion), Saint Minas was not simply holy, he was their captain. They called him Captain Minas and secretly brought him their arms to be blessed.’

2, Aghios Titos, Iraklion:

The Church of Saint Titus stands in a pretty square lined with cafés and bars (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Church of Saint Titos on Agios Titos Square stands in a pretty square lined with cafés and bars, off 25 August Street. Christianity in Crete traces its origins to the mission of the Apostle Paul and his companion Saint Titus, and the head of Saint Titus is an important relic in the Church of Saint Titos, one of the oldest churches in Iraklion.

When the Byzantine Emperor Nikiforos Fokas took Crete back from the Arabs in 961, the seat of the bishopric was transferred from Gortyn to Chandakas (present-day Iraklion), which became the capital of the island.

Inside the Church of Saint Titos, which became the cathedral of Crete in the late tenth century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A new cathedral was built in the city and dedicated to Saint Titos, the companion of Saint Paul. The skull of Saint Titus, the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mesopanditissa and other relics from Gortyn were moved to the new church.

When the Venetians took Crete, they installed a Latin-rite bishop, who made Saint his cathedral. In the centuries that followed, the church was damaged by fire and earthquakes, and the church was rebuilt in 1557. The church was a basilica, almost square in shape, with a central dome and a bell-tower in the south-west corner. Inside, it was divided into three aisles by two rows of columns.

During the Turkish period, the church was converted into the Vizier Mosque, and the bell tower became a minaret. The earthquake of 1856 severely damaged the mosque, which was rebuilt to designs by Athanasios Moussis, who was also the architect of the Cathedral of Saint Minas.

The reliquary holding the skull of Saint Titus (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The minaret was demolished in the 1920s, when the last Muslims left Iraklion with the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. The Church of Crete repaired the church, and in 1925 it was dedicated again to the Apostle Titos.

After the fall of Iraklion to the Turks, all relics in the church were removed to Venice, where they still remain today. The single exception is the skull of Saint Titos, which was returned to Iraklion in 1966 and is now kept in a silver reliquary in the church.

3, Saint Mark’s Basilica, Iraklion:

The former Basilica of Saint Mark dates from 1239 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Basilica of Saint Mark, with its landmark portico, is one of the most important Venetian buildings in Iraklion. It stands close the Lion Fountain in Eleftheriou Venizelou Square (Lions Square) in the heart of Iraklion.

The basilica was built in 1239, opposite the Palace of the Duke, and was dedicated to Saint Mark, the patron of Venice. A tall clock tower at the south-west corner of the basilica, facing onto Lions Square, was a copy of the tower in Saint Mark’s Square, Venice.

This church was the venue for official ceremonies and Venetian nobles were buried here.

During the Ottoman period, Saint Mark’s was converted into the Defterdar Mosque, named after Defterdar Ahmet Pasha, the Supreme Treasurer. The Ottomans demolished the bell-tower, replacing it with a minaret, and destroyed the frescoes and Christian graves.

Saint Mark’s Basilica has a plain façade with a covered portico. The minaret was torn down again by the local population in 1915 after the liberation of Crete.

After the Turkish withdrawal in 1922, Saint Mark’s came under the jurisdiction of the National Bank and then the Municipality of Iraklion. The Society for Cretan Historical Studies restored the building to its original form in 1956.

Today, Saint Mark’s houses the Municipal Art Gallery and is open to the public almost all day, every day. It is used nowadays as a literary institute, an art gallery, an exhibition area and a concert hall.

4, Aghios Georgios, Panormos:

The modern Church of the Ascension and Saint George in Panormos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

For some years, it has become something of a tradition during holidays in Rethymnon to spend lazy, sunny Sunday afternoons in the small coastal village of Panormos, about about 25 km east of Rethymnon, enjoying lingering lunches in the restaurants, including the Agkyra, Porto Parasiris and Captain’s House.

These lunches often become hours of uninterrupted bliss, sipping coffee, reading books and watching life in the small harbour and beaches below.

Christ the Pantocrator in the dome of the Church of Aghios Georgios in Panormos on Easter Day last year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The recently built church, dedicated to the Ascension (Analipsi) and Saint George (Agios Georgios) has a splendid dome with a modern, majestic fresco of Christ the Pantocrator.

The remains of the Agia Sophia Basilica, once one of the largest basilicas in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Behind the village are the remains of the Agia Sophia Basilica, once one of the largest basilicas in Crete. The site is fenced off and there are few signs indicating its importance.

The Basilica of Agia Sofia was uncovered following research by the theologian Konstantinos Kalokiris, and the site was excavated in 1948-1955 by the archaeologist Professor N. Platonas.

The basilica was built in the fifth and sixth centuries According to archaeologists, this was the seat of the Diocese of Eleftherna, which transferred there after the destruction of the ancient city of Panormos. In time, the name Agia Sophia was given to the entire area around the basilica.

5, Church of the Metamorphosis, Piskopiano:

The new Church of the Metamorphosis towers over the village of Piskopianó (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I spent weeks on end in the 1990s in Piskopianó. When I returned recently, I got a warm welcome from old friends and from the priests of the parish, who gave me time on a sunny afternoon to show me around both the old church, which I once knew intimately, and the large new church, which was built in 2009.

This new Church of the Metamorphosis (the Transfiguration) stands above the village of Piskopianó with the mountains as a stunning backdrop.

Piskopianó, at the foot of the mountains above Hersonissos, is a parish within the Diocese of Petras and Cherronisou. Like all dioceses in Crete, this diocese has had the status of a metropolis since 1962. Its cathedral is in Neapolis, the historical capital of the Lasithi province, and home of the only Cretan to ever have become Pope.

For a short time, Piskopianó was the centre of a diocese. While the Bishops of Cherronisou were seated in Piskopianó, they are mentioned in official documents from the eighth to the tenth centuries, and the Bishop of Cherronisou took part in the Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 787 AD.

Inside the 16th century Church of Aghios Ioannis in Piskopianó (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

When Arab pirates started attacking Crete, Hersonissos was abandoned and the see of the diocese was transferred to Piskopianó, and remained there until the ninth or tenth century, when the diocese was relocated to Pedialos, and in the 19th century it was seated in the Monastery of Agatathos.

The name of Piskopianó may hint at this historical, early episcopal importance, or it may describe the village’s location looking out as a balcony over this stretch of the north coast of Crete.

Meanwhile, the Church of Aghios Ioannis (Saint John) was built in the 16th century, and has been renovated a few times since then.

6, Agios Vasilios, Koutouloufári:

The Church of Aghios Vassilios in Koutouloufári (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Koutouloufári is the neighbouring village of Piskopianó. I have stayed there on three occasions, going to church in the village church of Aghios Vassilios (Saint Basil). The present church was built in 1840, but it incorporates part of a smaller church that was built many centuries before.

Ancient maps and records indicate that there has been a settlement in the Koutouloufári area for hundreds of years. However, local historians say the present village has its beginnings in the Byzantine period after a severe earthquake that destroyed the settlement where the port of Hersonissos now stands.

The residents moved east to a new settlement, close to the Hotel Nora and they named this settlement Zambaniana. However, the village suffered severely from constant pirate raids, and the villagers were forced to move on once again, further inland and uphill towards Mount Harakas.

On reaching the church of Saint Basil, they told a local priest named Koutifari what had happened. He gave them land around the church to build a new village, and they named it Koutouloufári in his honour.

Inside the Church of Aghios Vassilios in Koutouloufári (Photograph: Patrick Comerford) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

As the village prospered and became wealthy, many large buildings were erected. During the Ottoman period, the village was renowned for its oil, wine and almonds.

Koutouloufári was almost deserted by the 1970s, with only 150 inhabitants left in the village, and until 1980, the inhabitants were mainly farmers. However, the development of tourism on the northern coast of Crete brought investment and work to the area and the population grew once again. The new prosperity also attracted city people who bought old houses Koutouloufári and restored them.

7, Analipsi Church, Georgioupoli:

Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli stands in its own gardens off the main square and behind the seafront (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Georgioupoli is a resort village with a long sandy beach that stretches for 9 km and many cafés, tavernas, small hotels and apartment blocks. It takes its name from Prince George, the second son of King George of Greece, who was appointed High Commissioner of Crete in 1898. Prince George built a shooting lodge here, and there was a vision of creating a Brighton of Crete at this spot.

The two main churches in Georgioupoli are the large parish church dedicated to the Ascension (Analipsi), with its splendid flurry of frescoes filling the walls, the ceilings and the dome, and the tiny white-wash chapel of Aghios Nikolaos.

Inside Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Analipsi Church is back from the seafront, away from the main square and shops, and set in its own gardens.

On the outside, it looks like a confident statement of Greek and Orthodox identity in this town, built with a greater capacity that the needs of a small resident community. The church is cruciform in shape, has two tall bell towers, and porches on three sides.

Christ the Pantocrator in the Dome of Analipsi Church in Georgioupoli (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

But inside, the dome and the frescoes covering the walls are an almost-overpowering example of contemporary Greek iconography at its best.

They are modern in style and approach, yet maintain a clear continuity with the Byzantine traditions of icons and frescoes.

8, The Chapel of Aghios Nikolaos, Georgioupoli:

Saint Nicholas … everyone’s image of ‘blue and white’ picture postcard Greece (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The most photographed landmark in Georgioupoli is the tiny white chapel dedicated to Aghios Nikolaos at the end of a rocky artificial breakwater that juts out into the bay between the harbour and the beach.

It is said the chapel was built about 100 years ago by an anonymous sailor to give thanks for his rescue. Today, it is a much-photographed landmark that has become a symbol of Crete in the way that the Vlacherna Monastery close to the southern tip of the Kanoni peninsula has become an image of Corfu.

It is worth taking time to watch people picking their way along the rocky, narrow breakwater between the harbour and the beach that leads out to the small islet with the tiny Chapel of Saint Nicholas – a venture that is guaranteed to end in a wet soaking and that has its risks as the rocks become wet and slippery.

Lighting candles at the chapel of Aghios Nikolaos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The rocky outcrop of Aghios Nikolaos is officially listed as a Greek island, and the chapel of Aghios Nikolaos is a popular choice for weddings on Crete. But it is difficult to imagine how the bride and the wedding party can arrive in a dry and pristine condition.

It is everyone’s ‘blue and white’ image of Greece in summer sunshine, and has become the symbol of Georgioupoli and the most photographed scene in this area.

It is popular with tourists who are encouraged to make their way out to the chapel and to light a candle there, and sometimes it is a popular venue for weddings, although it is difficult to imagine how a bride could make her way there in a full wedding dress, even if she used a boat and the waves were calm.

9, Saint Barbara, Georgioupoli:

The Church of Saint Barbara, close to the harbour in Georgioupoli (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Tucked into a small corner near the harbour of Georgioupoli is the older, small, traditional Church dedicated to Saint Barbara (Αγία Βαρβάρα).

Few tourists notice this church. Perhaps they think it is closed, but a gentle push on the church door leads into a peaceful and calming space for prayer and reflection.

The walls and the iconostasis or icon-screen of this small are covered with a large number of icons of Saint Barbara, and a lamp with incense is kept burning before her shrine.

Inside the Church of Saint Barbara in Georgioupoli (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Barbara was martyred in the Syrian city of Heliopolis during the reign of the Emperor Maximian (305-311).

She is a popular saint in Crete, and for over 30 years I have been familiar with Saint Barbara’s Church in Rethymnon, close to the cathedral in the old town.

10, Trimartiri Cathedral, Chania:

The cathedral in Chania is dedicated to the Panagia Trimartyri, the Virgin of the Three Martyrs (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Orthodox cathedral in Chania, the second city of Crete, is on Chalidon Street, the main street that crosses the old town from Eleftherios Venizelos Square in the harbour to 1866 Square in the new town. The cathedral faces Platia Mitropolis or Cathedral Square, a small square on the east side of the street, with a statue of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras facing the harbour.

The cathedral is dedicated to the Panagia Trimartyri (the Virgin of the Three Martyrs), the patron of Chania, and the cathedral celebrates its feast day on 21 November, the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary.

The cathedral is popularly known as the Trimartyri or the ‘Three Witnesses.’ The central aisle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the north aisle is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and the south aisle is dedicated to the Three Cappadocian Fathers.

There has been a church on this site since the Venetian period, and perhaps earlier. After the Turks captured Chania in 1645, the Ottomans turned the church into a soap factory, and the boiler for the ingredients was where the bell tower now stands. However, on the sufferance of the Turkish Pasha of Chania, the icon of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary was kept in a storeroom inside the church, with an oil-lamp always lit before it.

In the mid-19th century, a man named Tserkaris worked at the soap factory. According to a local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to him in a vision and told him to leave, because she did not want her house to be used as a soap factory. Tserkaris left, taking the icon with him, but the church remained a soap factory until the business failed.

A little later, the child of Mustapha Naili Pasha accidentally fell into a well south of the church. In despair, Mustapha Pasha called upon the Virgin Mary to save his child, in return for which he would give the church back to the Christians of Chania.

The child was saved, and the soap factory was handed over to the Christian community to build a new church, with financial support from the Sultan and the Veli Pasha, the Turkish commander in Crete. Tserkaris then returned the icon of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary.

The cathedral in Chania was completed in 1860 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The cathedral was completed in 1860 in the style of a three-aisled basilica. The architectural details represent the tradition developed in the Venetian era: sculptured pseudo-pillars, cornices and arched openings. The east wall is decorated with large and impressive icons.

The cathedral was frequently used as a place of refuge and suffered much damage during the Cretan revolt of 1897. It was restored at the expense of the Russian Tsar, to make amends for the Russian bombardment of Akrotiri. The bell-tower on the north-east side was also a gift from the Tsar.

Trimartiri was damaged during the German bombing of Chania in May 1941. It was carefully restored in the post-war years, and until recently, because of its central location in the old town and the attractive square in front, it is constantly visited by tourists.

11, Agios Ioannis Theologos, Élos:

The Byzantine Church of Saint John the Theologian in Élos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The small village of Élos is 60 km south-west of Chania in west Crete, on the road to the Monastery of Chrissoskalitissa and the sandy beach of Elafonissi. Élos is one of the nine villages that are known collectively as the Enneachora, and is known for its chestnut forests.

Behind a taverna in the village, an old arch is said to have been part of an ancient Roman aqueduct. But the real hidden treasure in Elos is the Byzantine Church of Saint John the Theologian (Agios Ioannis Theologos).

The frescoes in Élos are attributed to Ioannis Pagomenos of Kissamos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This is a single-room, vaulted church, measuring 11.20 x 4.46 meters, and probably dates from the first half of the 14th century.

The frescoes of Christ and the saints are attributed to Ioannis Pagomenos, a well-known icon writer and painter from Kissamos.

The modern parish church of Aghios Nikolas in Élos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This tiny church, hidden in a shaded corner among trees behind a taverna, is almost dwarfed by the neighbouring modern parish church of Aghios Nikolas of Élos.

12, Two unusual churches:

The small Church of the Twelve Apostles above Gramvousa Bay (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Every village, every suburb and every town in Crete has at least one church, and every city has a cathedral. But sometimes I have come across churches in the most unexpected and hidden of places.

Gramvousa (Γραμβούσα) is not only small island, but two small uninhabited islands off the Gramvousa Peninsula west of Chania, in the western part of Kissamos Bay. This means the Gramvousa peninsula is one of the most remote places in Crete. Yet this was once the home of the small monastery of Saint John, dedicated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. The domed cells and rooms of the monastery can still be seen, and there is a water spring nearby.

Today there are legends and stories about hidden pirate treasure on the island, but the one rusty shipwreck at the end of the beach that looks like a pirate shipwreck is nothing of the sort. The Dimitrios P was wrecked over 50 years ago in a winter storm early in 1968 while it was carrying a shipload of cement to Libya.

The tiny church above the sandy beach in the bay is not the pirates’ church, but a later church dedicated to the Twelve Apostles, and the iconostasis has a complete set of icons of the 12 apostles.

The Church of Aghios Dynami is in a cave in the village of Argiroupolis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Church of Agia Dynami (Holy Force) is inside a cave in the mountain village of Argiroupolis. Inside the cave, the spring of Holy Force that feeds into the water supply for the Province of Rethymno.

The chapel once had had an impressive mosaic of Christ, but this has been moved to the museum in Rethymnon and has been replaced with a simple icon.

Inside the cave of the Church of Agia Dynami (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen monasteries in Crete on a lost ‘lockdown’ Easter

The monastery of Arkadi has a special place in the heart of all Cretans (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Each year, during my visits to Greece, I spend some of my time in a monastery. Last year, I spent some time visiting the monasteries of Meteora, and during Holy Week and Easter the previous year (2018), I spent time at Mount Athos.

I had planned to visit Crete for Holy Week and Easter, which falls this weekend in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church. But the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has cancelled all my travel plans.

Hopefully, I can plan in a few weeks’ time to visit Crete later this year. Meanwhile, to mark Good Friday in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church today, I offer a ‘virtual tour’ of a dozen monasteries in Crete.

1, Arkadi

Arkadi remains a working monastery and a new museum opened in 2016 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I have visited Arkadi Monastery (Μονή Αρκαδίου) on and off, over the years, since I first came to Rethymnon in 1988. The monastery, on the edge of the Psilorítis Mountains, is 23 km south-east of Rethymnon. When I am staying in Platanias, it is a half-hour journey up through the bright and welcoming mountain villages of Adele, Pigi, Loutra, Pigi and Kirianna, through olive groves and vineyards, and along the side of the Arkadi Gorge.

The monastery has a special place in the heart of all Cretans because of its role in the Cretan resistance against Ottoman rule. During the Cretan revolt in 1866, 943 Greek people, mostly women and children, sought refuge in the besieged monastery. After a three-day battle, they blew up barrels of gunpowder, choosing to death rather than surrender.

Arkadi featured on the Greek 100 drachmai banknote until Greece joined the Eurozone. The monastery’s image was restored to popular currency with the issue of 750,000 new €2 coins in Greece in November 2016 to mark the 150th anniversary of the destruction of Arkadi in November 1866.

Today, only three monks live in the monastery. But, despite the constant arrival of tourists and visitors and the dwindling number of monks, this remains a working monastery.

The main church in Arkadi is unusual for its double-aisled interior (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The main church or katholikon dates back to the 16th century but shows Roman, Venetian, Renaissance and Baroque elements in its architecture. This church is unusual with its two aisles, and is dedicated to both the Transfiguration and to Saint Constantine and Saint Helen.

Since the 16th century, the monastery has been a centre for the sciences, art and learning. The church was built in 1587, replacing a smaller church dating from the 13th century. The façade, which was designed in renaissance style, was influenced by the work of the architects Sebastiano Serlio and Andrea Palladio.

In the monastic cloisters in Arkadi (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A new museum opened in Arkadi in 2016, and exhibits surviving books from the monastery library, the collection of icons, and liturgical items, including vestments, stoles, patens, chalices and crosses.

Most of the items come from smaller monastic houses (metochia) and chapels that were once dependencies of Arkadi. They date from 1629 to the mid-19th century, and the earliest are fine examples of the Late Cretan School.

2, Saint Catherine of Sinai, Iraklion:

Saint Catherine of Sinai … the monastic church is now a museum (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Catherine’s Museum, beside the Cathedral of Saint Minas in the heart of Iraklion, was once a monastic church that belonged to the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Monastery of Saint Catherine was founded in the 10th century by monks from Mount Sinai, but all that survives of the monastery today is the main church.

The church was built during the second Byzantine period in the 16th century and was influenced by Venetian architecture. It became the centre of intellectual and artistic activity in Crete from the 15th to the 17th century.

Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai transferred the church to the Cathedral of Saint Minas in 1924.

Inside Saint Catherine of Sinai … the Divine Liturgy is still served here on Saint Catherine’s Day, 25 November (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Catherine’s is now a museum and exhibition venue owned by the Archdiocese of Crete. The museum’s displays tell the story of the Cretan Renaissance, with outstanding icons by Michail Damaskinos, the teacher of Domenikos Theotokopoulos, El Greco, and works by Georgios Klontzas and Theophanes the Cretan. Other displays also include collections of altar furnishings, books, vestments and detached murals.

But, technically speaking, this former monastic church is still a church, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the church every year on 25 November, the feast of Saint Catherine.

Saint Matthew’s Church, Iraklion … once a dependency of Saint Catherine’s Monastery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Saint Catherine’s once had a number of metochoi or dependent churches around Iralkion, typified in Saint Matthew’s Church. Archaeological evidence shows an early church on this site. But it was rebuilt in the second Byzantine period, and took its present form in 1503 after severe damage in an earthquake.

At the beginning of the ottoman period in Crete in 1669, the church was saved by becoming a metochi of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, although the Turks turned Saint Catherine’s into a mosque.

The churchyard holds the graves of many prominent Cretans killed during rebellions against the Turks and in the massacre of 25 August 1898, including the British consul, Lyssimachos Kalokairinos. The church now houses a collection of icons, including major works of the Cretan School.

3, Agia Irini:

The bells of Agia Irini are ringing out again after being quiet for decades (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Agia Irini is one of the oldest monasteries in Crete. Some accounts say it was founded sometime between 961 and 1204, and it was certainly built before 1362, when a Venetian document testifies to its existence.

But the monastery was destroyed several times during the many revolutions in Crete against Ottoman rule, and after the revolution of 1821 at the beginning of the Greek War of Independence, the monastery went into decline.

In 1844, the Schools Commission assumed the management of the monastery and in 1866, after it suffered great damage at the hands of the Turks, the monastery was granted to the nearby monastery of Chalevi.

However, during the last Cretan revolution of 1897-1898, the Turks burnt the monastery, the ruined monastery was formally closed in 1900, and the ruins remained deserted for most of the 20th century.

At first, the monastery lands were granted to the monastery of Arsani, but in 1925 the lands were distributed among local Greek war veterans. Sister Akaterina, who brought me on a recent tour of the monastery, told how the Metropolitan of Rethymnon, the late Bishop Theodoros Tzedakis, had a vision in 1989 for the restoration of the monastery and invited a group of nuns to form a new community at Agia Irini.

The nuns moved into the buildings and restoration work started in 1990. At the time, Agia Irini was a jumble of dilapidated buildings. Today, it must be one of the most beautiful monasteries in Crete, having been restored with great care, using the principles of monastic architecture from a bygone era. The restoration work was acknowledged in 1995 with the European Union award for cultural heritage, the Europa Nostra Award.

A quiet corner in the monastery of Agia Irini, 5 km south of Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

From the entrance, the monastery looks like a walled fortress. Unlike other churches, the main church is not in the centre of the enclosure but outside it on the higher level of the sacred rock.

Sister Akaterina recalled how the church was officially opened in 2003, and was consecrated on 20 August 2011 by Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria.

On the ruins of an old olive mill stands the smaller chapel of Saint Raphael, Saint Nicholas and Saint Irene. The monastery also has a small museum, a refectory, and workshops for icon painting, embroidery and sewing. The nuns use olive oil and tsoikoudia from their own trees and grapes to make hand-made soap and herb extracts.

Outside the courtyard, an older three-aisled church of Saint Irene, Saint Catherine and Saint Euphemia is awaiting restoration.

Eight nuns now live in the monastery. In their shop, the nuns sell traditional handicrafts of weaving and needlework, their own almond-flavoured drink, candles, religious books and icons, including unusual icons written on odd pieces of ceramic.

The late Metropolitan Theodoros Tzedakis is buried outside the church in Agia Irini.

4, Moni Arsanios (Saint George), Pagalohori:

Moni Arsanios, 11 km east of Rethymnon, dates from the 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Moni Arsanios (Μονή Αρσανίου) or the Monastery of Saint George at the village of Pagalohori, 11 km east of Rethymnon, dates from the 16th century. Below, there are panoramic views out to the Cretan Sea; above are views up to Mount Psiloritis, the highest mountain on the island.

The katholikon or main church in the monastery is dedicated to Aghios Georghios (Saint George), and a smaller church is named after Saint Mark the Deaf. But the monastery probably takes its name from a monk called Arsenios, who built the monastery in the 16th century.

The katholikon was dedicated to Saint George in 1600. When the Turks occupied Rethymnon in 1646, the monastery may have been deserted. Bishop Neophytos Patelaros put the monastery under the protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1655, and the Stavropegic and Patriarchal status of Arsaniou was reconfirmed in 1778 and again in 1850.

But the Stavropegic status with the protection of the Patriarch of Constantinople did not save the monastery from natural and political calamities. Many of the cells of the monastery collapsed under a strong earthquake in 1856, and ten years later, in 1866, the Turks destroyed what they could in the monastery to punish the monks for their revolutionary activities.

The dome in the katholikon, built in 1888 and decorated in 1988-1990 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A new Church of Saint George was built in 1888 on the ruins of the old church, but the Turks returned in 1896 to burn and plunder the monastery. A year later, they murdered the monk Father Gabriel Klados, hanging his head on a tree in Rethymnon to use for target practice.

By 1900, it looked as though the monastery could not survive, but it was reconstituted in 1903. Further woes came with World War II, when the Germans executed Abbot Damianos Kallergis in 1941 for the support the monks gave to the Greek partisans and the resistance to the Nazis. But the monastery survived an it was renovated in 1970.

The katholikon is a cruciform basilica with a dome. There is a fine carved wooden ikonostasis (icon screen) and the walls were decorated with vivid frescoes in 1988-1990 by Georgios Xristidis from Rethymnon.

Along with the visitors to the new conference centre and museum, the monastery has had a steady daily trickle of tourists. But the future of Moni Arsanios must be a matter of faith today as there are only three monks living permanently there. The two I met when I visited were in their mid-80s, the third monk was in his mid-40s.

5, Preveli:

Monastic bells in a tree in the courtyard of Preveli Monastery on the south coast of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Monastery of Preveli is 37 km south of Rethymnion, and while the monastery lies is within the Diocese of Lambis and Sfakion, it comes under the direct oversight of the Ecumenical Patriarch, making it the Holy Stavropegic and Patriarchal Monastery of Saint John the Theologian.

The monastery is famous among Greeks for its role in struggles against both the Turks and the Germans in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is celebrated in Greek lore and in books and movies for its part in helping allied soldiers escape Crete in World War II.

Preveli is not one but two monasteries, with two sets of buildings. The ruined Lower Monastery (Kato Moni) is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, but is now deserted and fenced off and closed to visitors. It is another 3 km or so to the second living, active monastery, known as the Upper or Rear Monastery (Piso Moni), dedicated to Saint John the Theologian.

There is strong evidence that an early monastery stood on the site of the lower monastery during the Second Byzantine period in Crete, in the 10th or early 11th century. But the monastery was probably founded in the Middle Ages, when Crete was under Venetian rule.

The original name was ‘The Monastery of the Great River at the Island of Crete.’ Some stories say it was founded by a feudal lord named Prevelis. Others say it is named after a repentant murderer who fled his home in Preveliana village in the 16th century, found refuge in the monastery and gave his life savings in thanks for his life being saved. Another tradition says Preveli takes its name from Abbot Akakios Prevelis, who renovated the monastery in 1670. At least three or four abbots in the 17th and 18th century were from the Prevelis family, a family from Rethymnon descended from the Kallergis, a Byzantine noble family.

The earliest records for the monastery go back to 1594, a date engraved on a monastery bell. When the Turks occupied Crete in 1649, they destroyed the monastery of Preveli. But the monastery was restored, and in the centuries that followed became a centre for education and a centre for resistance to Ottoman rule.

Abbot Efraim Prevelis took part in the revolution led by John Vlachos or Daskalogianis in 1770. He was sentenced to death but was finally pardoned in 1798 after Patriarch Gregory V intervened with the Sultan.

To secure the monastery’s privileges and estates, Abbot Ephrem sought the protection of the Patriarchate, and Preveli received the status of a patriarchal and stavropegic monastery. As a sign of this new status, he returned from Constantinople with the Cross that has remained the most prized relic in Preveli.

The katholikon or main church was built in 1835-1837 on the site of earlier churches (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In 1821, the Abbot of Preveli, Melchisedek Tsouderos – whose family was from Rethymnon and who were said to be descended from the Byzantine imperial family – became a member of the secret Greek revolutionary organisation, the Philiki Etairia (the Society of Friends).

On 25 May 1821, the abbot and a group of rebels hoisted the Greek flag on the hills overlooking the village of Rodakino, and he soon became the leading figure in the revolutionary events of 1821 in Crete.

The abbot organised, equipped and financed the first rebel units against the Turkish forces, and managed to rescue the monks before the Turks destroyed the monastery in a reprisal attack. Abbot Melchisedek’s force, made up of monks and civilians, went on to fight in many battles in western Crete. He was fatally injured in a battle near the village of Polemarchi in the Kissamos area on 5 February 1823. He died while his companions were trying to move him to the village of Platania, where he was buried. He is commemorated in the name of Tsouderon Street in Rethymnon.

Preveli was active again in organising rebellions against the Turks in the 19th century. The disaster at Arkadi in November 1866 did not deter Abbot Agathangelos and his monks, who fed and sheltered up to 200 rebels in Preveli on a daily basis. In a revenge attack on 7 July 1867, Resit Pasha and 8,000 Turkish soldiers set fire to the Lower Monastery and its farms in the neighbouring villages. The Rear Monastery was saved at the last moment and continued its active role until the end of the revolution in 1869.

When yet another revolution broke out in 1878, the Rear Monastery became rebel headquarters and the abbot fought at the front line. The revolutions were instrumental in securing Crete’s eventual autonomy in 1896, followed by political union with Greece 100 years ago in 1913.

During the German occupation of Crete in World War II, 5,000 Greek, Australian, New Zealand and British troops who fought in the Battle of Crete in 1941 found themselves stranded on the island. Many found shelter in Preveli and others were hidden in homes and farms nearby.

The Abbot, Agathangelos Lagouvardos, helped organise their escape to Egypt on two submarines on the nights of 31 May and 1 June 1941 and 20 and 21 August 1941. In a revenge attack on 25 August 1941, the Germans plundered the monastery, the Lower Monastery was destroyed completely, and many of the monks were sent to Firka Prison in Chania. Among the precious items plundered by the Germans was its most precious relic, the miraculous Cross of Abbot Ephraim Prevelis.

But the monks who returned immediately began rebuilding the Rear Monastery with help from local people and from other monasteries. Meanwhile, Abbot Agathangelos had joined the Greek Army in the Middle East as a chaplain. In the courtyard, a series of monuments recalls the role of the monastery in World War II.

The Rear Monastery is at the foot of a mountain and overlooks the Libyan Sea. The monastery is the shape of an irregular letter Π, with buildings on the north, the west and part of the east sides of a level area, with the main church or katholikon in the centre of the courtyard.

The katholikon stands on the site of the older, probably frescoed church that was demolished in 1835. The present church was completed in 1837 and was consecrated that year. This is a large two-nave building, unified internally by a sequence of three arches.

A long, enclosed chamber, once used as stables, now houses the museum of the monastery. The collection of icons covers a period from the early 17th century to the end of 19th century.

The best-known item on display is not in the museum but in the katholikon. This is the large, richly decorated silver cross brought back to Preveli from Constantinople by Abbot Ephrem and now kept in a special shrine in the main church.

Today, there are only three monks living in the monastery. It is a crisis in monastic vocations that is hitting many monasteries throughout Greece. However, I was warmly invited into the katholikon by one of the monks, who quickly realised I was a priest, and asked me which Church I was from and who was my bishop. He pointed out the icons, the patriarch’s throne, and other treasures in the Church. He told me the story of the Cross, put on his stole, took the Cross out of its shrine, and blessed me before I went on my way.

6, Anastasias Monastery, Tsesmes:

The main church in the Monastery of Saint Anastasia looks largely unfinished (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A road sign in the Tsesmes promises it is a mere 1.5 km walk to the Monastery of Saint Anastasia the Roman. With this promise in mind, two of us set out a recent summer morning to walk along the mountain track to the monastery.

The waking distance was more like 3 km, and we felt it in the heat of the morning sun as we left Platanias and Tsesmes behind us and climbed up through the olive groves and the rustic landscape.

The monastery is off the beaten track, down a side road off a minor road. No tourist buses or guided tours ever reach here, and in its simplicity and its stillness we found a spiritual welcome.

The Monastery of Saint Anastasia the Roman is the first monastery in Greece dedicated to this saint. It was founded in 2008 by a visionary monk from Rethymnon, Father Vassilis, who had spent some time on Mount Athos, and it has been a full monastery – albeit a monastery with only one monk – since July 2009.

The unfinished appearance gives the monastery church a stark and simple spirituality (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The large katholikon or main monastery church is still unfished. Outside, the concrete walls have still not been rendered or plastered. Inside there are no frescoes on the walls and the icon screen has a few simple, modern icons.

The stark simplicity adds to the spiritual atmosphere of the church. Beside it is smaller chapel of Saint Kosmas the Aetolian.

Father Vassilis worked away quietly in the gardens as we moved around freely admiring his flowers and plants. There is no museum, no souvenir shop, and nothing to detract from the tranquillity and the peace we had found.

The coastal plain east of Rethymnon spreads out below as a joyful vista. From the balcony, we could pick out familiar features in Tsesmes and Platanias. To the west, clearly visible, the dome and the fortezza basked in the late morning sunshine. The blue Mediterranean sea was beyond, calm and peaceful as far as the distant horizon.

7, Saint George, Karydi:

The Monastery of Aghios Georgios in Karydi was founded around 1600 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Monastery of Saint George in Karydi is about 2 km south-east of the village of Vamos in western Crete, and is best-known as an architectural monument because of its former olive oil factory with its 12 arches and the remains of four olive mills.

Before the foundation of the monastery, the area was a settlement and fiefdom controlled by a Venetian nobleman, whose house is still preserved. Writing in 1577, the Venetian man of letters, Francesco Barozzi (1537-1694), who was born in Iraklion, mentions a church dedicated to Saint George at the current location of the monastery.

The Monastery of Aghios Georgios in Karydi was founded around 1600, and took its name from this settlement in an area abundant with walnut trees.

When the Turks captured Crete later in the 17th century, they realised the strategic location of the monastery on a road linking Sfakia and Vamos. There were about 10 Greek Orthodox families here, and the Turks forced them to either convert to Islam or to abandon their village. Four families changed their faith and asked the Turks to turn the Church of Saint George in the village into a mosque.

In the early 18th century, the taxes imposed on the priest were so oppressive that he felt he was being forced to leave the village. Eventually, with the help of the Monastery of Aghia Triada at Tzagarolon, near Chania, he found a way to pay his taxes, and in 1720 the monastery was given in thanks to Aghia Triada Monastery.

In the courtyard at the Monastery of Aghios Georgios (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Since then, Saint George and the lands attached to it have been a dependency of the Monastery of Aghia Triada. The Turks conceded more freedom to the Christians of Crete in 1821. They began olive cultivation in 1829, which helped the monastery to grow and provided work for many people.

The monks bought the properties of the Muslim residents in the locality, and gradually the monastery became an important place of work. The monastery’s property and estates expanded rapidly, as many people left bequests and legacies or donated their land to the monastery, including even some Turks.

The scale of olive oil production at the monastery was so great, that an impressive olive oil factory with four mills was built here in 1863. At one time, the monastery owned 3,600 olive trees, as well as numerous animals and vines. It produced up to 25,000 kg of olive oil, which was a unique example of oil production on a grand scale anywhere in Crete.

The old olive oil factory with its 12 arches has become a picture postcard image of the monastery. The 12 arches, said by some to represent the 12 apostles, once supported a roof that has collapsed. The remains of the four mills can still be seen inside the factory ruins, but only their bases survive, and the millstones have been removed.

Meanwhile, several monks moved from Aghia Triada to Karydi, and rebuilt the church its present form in 1850-1880. A reliquary in the church is said to hold a small part of a bone of Saint George.

The last monk left the monastery of Aghios Georgios in 1900, and five years later, in 1905, part of the monastery land was ceded to local farmers and the monastery became forlorn and deserted. The rest of the monastery lands were granted in 1922 to Greek veterans of the Balkan wars and the Asia Minor campaign. The monastery and many of the surrounding olive groves were destroyed around 1923.

For many years, the monastery was left abandoned. However, the Greek Ministry of Culture began working with Bishop Irenaeus Galanakis in 1986 on a plan to restore the monastery.

Almost a century after the last monks left Aghios Georgios, one lone monk, Father Dorotheos, moved back into the monastery in 1996. He continues to live here, and with the support of local people he is continuing to restore the monastery and the church, and welcoming visitors.

8, Aghios Panteleimon, Adele:

The church of the Monastery of Aghios Panteleimon in Adele (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Adele is a small village 9 km east of Rethymnon, with a population of fewer than 450 people. Yet it is the seat of the Municipality of Arkadi, and here too is the Church of the Monastery of Aghios Panteleimon (feast day 27 July).

Adele was also the home village of Kostas Giamboudakis, the hero of the destruction of the Monastery of Arkadi, which is one of the formative incidents in Cretan history. His statue stands near the Porta Guora, the last surviving Venetian gate in the city walls of Rethymnon. (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

9, The Monastery of Panagia Chalevi:

The church at Chalevi is known for its magnificent flame or teardrop-shaped windows (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Monastery of Panagia Chalevi is near the village of Chromonastiri, about 12 km south of Rethymnon. This Venetian-era monastery dates from the 16th or 17th century, but all the monastery buildings have been abandoned since the end of the Turkish occupation and only the single-aisle church remains in repair and in use.

The church is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (Panagia) and has magnificent flame or teardrop-shaped windows. Beside it stand the ruined monastic buildings, which were built like a fortress and since 1980 it has been a protected monument.

The monastery once had stavropegic standing, which placed it under the direct authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Although the stavropegic standing was lost in 1725, it was restored in 1850 by Patriarch Anthimos IV, and the church which had been abandoned once before was restored in 1864.

However, Chalevi ceased to function as a monastery once again in 1900, and in 1935 it became a dependency of the Arsaniou Monastery. In 1991, the monastery was attached to the restored monastery of Agia Irini.

10, The Monastery of Chryssoskalítíssa (the Golden Step):

The Monastery of Chryssoskalítíssa is perched on rocks above the Libyan Sea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Monastery of Chryssoskalítíssa (Μονή Χρυσοσκαλιτίσσας) is perched on a rock cliff above the sea, close to the island of Elafonísi at the south-west tip of Crete. The monastery is built on rocks and is 35 metres high, overlooking the Libyan Sea.

The monastery, which dates from the 13th century, is dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Agia Triada) and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (Koimisis Theotokou). But the popular name comes from a local tradition that one step in a set of 90 appears as a golden step (chryssí skála) – but only to those who are pure of heart.

This monastery once had a community of 200. But like many monasteries in Crete, numbers have dwindled and today there is only one nun and one monk living there.

11, The former Saint Barbara’s Monastery (Kara Musa Pasha Mosque), Rethymnon:

The Kara Musa Pasha Mosque is one of the surviving treasures from Ottoman Crete in the old town of Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Kara Musa Pasha Mosque, at the corner of Arkadíou Street and Viktoras Ougo (Victor Hugo) Street, is one of the surviving treasures from Ottoman Crete in the old town of Rethymnon.

The mosque, with its domes and part of its ruined minaret stands close to Plateia Iróon or Heroes’ Square, which was once a chaotic traffic roundabout but is now a pleasant paved square that marks the east end of the old town.

For many years, the Kara Musa Pasha Mosque and its grounds have housed the Inspectorate of Byzantine Antiquities, but is generally closed to the public. In the past, I have sought to catalogue the surviving former mosques of Rethymnon, but I only managed to gain access to the Kara Musa Pasha Mosque once in 2014 for an exhibition, The Ghosts of Mediterranean by the visual artist, Professor Marianna Strapatsakis.

The Kara Musa Pasha Mosque stands on the site of a Venetian-era monastery dedicated to Saint Barbara (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The mosque was built on the site of a Venetian-era monastery dedicated to Saint Barbara, and was named after an Ottoman admiral who commanded the naval forces at the Turkish capture of Rethymnon in 1645.

The mosque is named after Kara Musa Pasha, who was born in Vikoča near Foča, now in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sultan Ibrahim I named him as his Grand Vizier in 1647 after the execution his predecessor. But Kara Musa Pasha was then at sea, taking part in the Ottoman war to capture Crete. The sultan also appointed him the Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy, but the imperial seal for his promotion was still on its way to him when he died on 21 September 1647 in front of the castle of Iraklion.

After the Turks captured Rethymnon, Saint Barbara’s Monastery was turned into a mosque. The central building has a typical square floor plan with a mihrab pointing towards Mecca.

Beside the mosque and the stump of the minaret is a domed, three-vault mausoleum that may have been the tomb of the founder of the mosque, but it was partly destroyed during building work on Viktoras Ougo Street many years ago.

The mosque complex includes a vaulted fountain – with a tasteless modern metal tap and cement basin – a courtyard and decorated columns that once stood over Turkish graves but now lie flat on the sun-baked ground.

12, Capuchin Friary, Chania:

The Capuchin Friary in Chania is the only Roman Catholic monastic house in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Capuchin Friary in Chania is the only Roman Catholic monastic house I have visited in Crete, and this is the only Roman Catholic religious community on the island. Although technically this is not a monastery but a friary, and the members of the community are friars, not monks, the Greek word μονή (moní) is used indiscriminately for both a friary and a monastery.

The Capuchins founded their first house in Chania in 1567, during the period of Venetian rule, and remained there until the Turkish conquest of the city in 1645. French Capuchins moved in Chania in 1674, registering as officials of the French Consulate, and, at first, they lived in the Kasteli area, not far from the old harbour. They built a small chapel, dedicated to the Dormition or Assumption of Our Lady, and this was functioning in the Capuchin residence by 1675.

During the short period of the Egyptian rule in Crete (1830-1841), Father Serafim da Caltanissetta obtained a license to build a single-nave church with a small wooden bell tower. The new church opened in 1844, and from 1855 access was provided from Halidon Street through a gate at the Capuchin friary.

Inside the Cathedral of the Assumption in the grounds of the Capuchin Friary in Chania (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

In the early 18th century, the Capuchins acquired a large plot of land near the Yusuf Pasha mosque, the former church of Saint Francis. There they built a new monastery at No 46 Halidon Street.

The church became the cathedral for the new Diocese of Crete in 1874. A new, triple-nave basilica, with neo-classical and renaissance features, was designed by the architect Vitaliano Poselli and opened in 1879. Meanwhile, the old monastery was demolished in 1880 and a larger one was built to designs by Poselli. The bell tower was built in 1882.

Two Capuchin friars – Father Angelo in Chania and Father Antonino in Iraklion – risked their lives and saved hundreds of Christians during the slaughters in the years 1896-1898, during the Cretan struggle for independence.

A shop in Chania selling icons and religious goods produced in the monasteries on Mount Athos (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

There are many more monasteries I have visited in Crete and that I could have invited you to visit on this ‘virtual tour,’ from Toplou Monastery in the east to Gonia monastery in the west.

I visited Toplou in the mid-1990s when I was staying in Piskopiano, in the hills above Hersonissos. Toplou is 85 km east of Agios Nikolaos, at the east end of island, and near the palm beach at Vai, once renowned as a location for the ‘Bounty Bar’ ads on British television.

Gonia is on the edges of Kolymbari village and 26 km from Chania. I visited Gonia and the Orthodox Academy of Crete in the late 1980s, when I was staying nearby in Kolymbari.

Today is Good Friday in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church. I had hoped to join the processions and parades in the streets in Crete this evening. But, as so many of the frescoes in monasteries and churches remind us, Good Friday always brings with it the joys of Easter and the hope of the Resurrection.

When this pandemic passes, I hope to be back in Crete later this year.

The Resurrection in a fresco by Georgios Xristidis in Moni Arsanios (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)