Location information

Monastery of the Virgin at Savvathiana

Tel: +30 2810 841296, 220579
It is situated in a verdant ravine of Vasilikos mountain nearby Rodia. It is dedicated to Agios Antonios, the protector of the Monks, in whose honour an old cave-like church was built. It is amongst the most significant historic monasteries where in the Turkish occupation period monks from Agios Savas (on Almyros beach) found refuge due to its inaccessible position. The Monastery was severely damaged during the Turkish attack in 1648, though in 1745 reconstruction work commenced.

  The Savathianon Monastery is 14km west of Iraklion on the Iraklion - Rodia - Savathianon Monastery road. The monastery is a very pleasant site full of plants and trees near the top of a hill with an eagles-eye view of the coastline of north Crete and a small ravine. The church of the Panagia is from the sixteenth century. The church of Agios Antonios dates from the fifteenth century, a large part of which was built within a cave. A small bridge connects the main part of the monastery with the church of Agios Antonios, and dates from 1535. The nuns support themselves by selling handmade articles.

This extract is cited Jan 2003 from the Crete TOURnet URL below, which contains images.

Crete TOURnet WebPage
• http://www.crete.tournet.gr/MainArea.jdp?ID=152 (2 img.)
Crete TOURnet WebPage
• http://www.crete.tournet.gr/Site.jdp?ID=402 (3 img.)