Arkadi Monastery - West Crete

The Monastery Arkadi
Arkadi Monastery is perhaps the best-known monastery on Crete due to the Holocaust of 1866. In November 1866, Ottoman armies laid siege to the monastery, where 700 women and children and 260 Cretan warriors had barricaded themselves after the Abbot’s refusal to surrender. This event is considered to be one of the most important in Cretan history and was the reason that Arkadi was designated by UNESCO as a European Freedom Monument. It is a large fortified complex built during the end of the period of Venetian rule. Apart from the monks’ cells, the central building also includes warehouses, premises for processing agricultural products, as well as stables. Its location and impressive architecture make it more special.

The Monastery of Arkadi is situated 23 km southwards from the coastal town Rehymnon at a high of about 500 m on the north-west mountain rigdes of the highest mountain Psiloritis. The monastery’s foundation and its name are owed to a monk called Arkadios. The Monastery were built up in 1587 during the Venetion occupation on Crete. Inscriptions give evidence that an earlier church than the present one had existed dating back to the 14th century. The plethora of architectural elements of the Renaissance such as the Gothic arches and obelisks, the anthemic of the Renaissance and corinthian moldings reflect this era. On the exhibition in the Monastery museum the visitors can admire the sacred banner of the revolution, and other relics such as monastery utensils, vestments embroidered with gold and weapons.