Arkadi Monstery Crete

The mythical Arkadi Monastery is located about twenty three kilometers from the beautiful town of Rethymno in the northwestern part of the Crete island, above a fertile plateau full of vineyards, forests and olive groves. In the western part instead there are beautiful gorges ranging from Tabakaria to Stavromenos with biodiversity of wild and native flowers and plants. Five kilometers from the ancient city of Elefherna .

Mythical as it has a very sad history behind it but which is a great source of pride for the Cretans as well as the fulcrum of the importance of the Monastery.

Arkadi Monastery perched on the northwestern side at about 500 meters above sea level of Mount Ida, the sacred mountain where according to legend the god Zeus grew up, is an Orthodox cathedral dating back to the 16th century with a Renaissance style with a mix of Roman and Baroque influences. Once fortified by a thick and high walls, it had a strong value for the Cretan resistance during the Ottoman period.It is also a place of art and science with a well-stocked library of texts belonging to Pindaro, Petrarca, Virgilio, Dante, Homer, Strabo and Thucydides.

It is not known exactly when the monastery was founded, according to tradition it was the Byzantine emperor Heraclius or by the emperor Arcadius in the fifth century, but an even more 'plausible' reason may be that linked to the fact that in Greece the monasteries took the name of the founding monks and in this case that it was a religious named Arkadios who built the church. Begun in 1562, it was completed 25 years later with the construction of the facade and the two naves first of all. At the end of the 16th century it was restored and transformed in many parts. Until the seventeenth century, the Arkadi Monastery grew overwhelmingly both from a cultural and an economic point of view, becoming a precious repository of manuscripts and writings that unfortunately were lost with the arrival of the Ottomans. In 1648 the Monastery was sacked by the Turks and the ecumenical Simon Halkiopoulos with all the monks found shelter at the Monastery of Vrontissi with the condition of being able to return to Arkadi only swearing allegiance to Hussein Pasha. It prospered for a long time thanks to the monks who took care of the surrounding countryside, dedicating themselves to their needs and trading with the products of the earth such as wine and oil. In the seventeenth century it fell into decline bringing the religious almost to starvation. In 1866, the year in which the Cretan resistance towards the invaders was becoming more and more 'felt, Isma the Pascia ordered the Monastery not to help the rebels by threatening to destroy the abbey. In July of the same year, Turkish troops enter the monastery destroying icons and sacred objects but the members of the liberation committee fortunately managed to escape. In September the Pasha sent a further ultimatum and on November 8 sent an army of 15,000 men with 30 guns. 964 people were refugees in Arkadi, 325 of whom were men and the rest were women and children. A battle that lasted two days and two nights. Arkadi was riddled with thousands of bullets and by collapsing a wall the Ottomans managed to enter. Cretan men fought to the limit until they all perished. Women with children and a priest hid in the gunpowder warehouse but the Turks with a great thirst for victory broke down the door to capture them and deport them as slaves to a harem. At that point, Father Gabriel an eighty-year-old man took a candle from the altar, turned his gaze to the women and children and lit the fuses, blowing up everything and everyone, saving them from an even more terrible death.

Today it is possible to visit the Monastery open every day from May to October from 9.00 to 19.00 at the price of € 2.50 per person. You can admire the beautiful Venetian-style facade with the bell tower, the church called Katholikon dedicated to St. Constantine with a significant iconostasis of biblical scenes, the refectory, the ancient monks' cells as well as the arcaded corridors that were used as a hospital in the period of the revolt, and a small museum with sacred objects and a collection of icons. All this, embellished with fruit trees, vine shoots, plants and flowers of a thousand colors.

It's very simple, it's important to have your own vehicle. As a reference point we keep Rethymno. Take the main road towards Heraklion, Tsesme-Platania exit, follow the Old National Road and go up to Arkadi.

A very nice excursion to do both for the road that passes through delightful villages and wooded gorges, and for the strong historical and emotional significance of the Arkadi Monastery. A fascinating and sad story that conveys the idea of Cretan pride and patriotism.