DK Travel : Crete : History & Culture

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Melidoni

This cave was said to be the lair of Talos, the bronze giant created by Zeus.
Michael Damaskinos

Michailis Damaskinos (circa 1530–91) is the best known of the Cretan School icon painters. Some of his most important works are exhibited in the Museum of Religious Art in Irakleio (see Museum of Religious Art).
Minoan Empires

The Minoan civilization emerged between 3000 and 1900 BC. A volcanic explosion may have destroyed the Minoan cities around 1450 BC.
Moni Agia Triada

The Monastery of the Holy Trinity stands among its own olive groves, and although its monastic community has dwindled to just a few members, its lovely old buildings are gradually being restored. Visitors are welcome, and the monks will happily sell you some of their home-grown olive oil, which is of high quality.
Moni Arkadiou

Though founded in the 5th century, most of the monastic buildings here date from the 16th century. Moni Arkadiou has a special significance for Cretans. During the great revolt of 1866, the monastery – crowded with refugees as well as Cretan freedom fighters – was besieged by the Turks. Rather than surrender, the rebel defenders blew up their gunpowder stores, killing themselves and many of their enemies.
Moni Chrissopygis

The Convent of the Source of Life, like so many Cretan monasteries, looks more like a castle than a religious dwelling. It is relatively new, built in 1863, and has a studio in which icons are painted using age-old techniques.
Moni Gouverneto

At the last count only three elderly monks remained in this isolated monastery, deep in the wilds of the bleak and barren Akrotiri Peninsula. The building encloses a tranquil courtyard, in which stands a small chapel with some of the oldest frescoes in Crete.
Moni Katholikou

In a rugged valley riddled with caves once used by hermits, the abandoned monastery of Gouverneto is a ghostly place, with crumbling buildings that seem to have grown out of the rockface.
Moni Preveli

Built during the 17th century to replace a more remote monastery building, Moni Preveli’s peaceful dormitories and cloisters look inward, onto an 18th-century courtyard with a 19th-century church and a small museum. Exhibits include lavishly ornamented vestments, church silver, censers and icons.
Moni Toplou

The Toplou monastery’s forbidding exterior is deceptive, for like many Greek monasteries it was fortified against bandits during the Middle Ages. Inside, however, is a different world of serene, flower-filled courtyards and cloisters, and a church that houses one of the greatest Cretan works of religious art, the icon Lord, Thou Art Great by Ioannis Kornaros.