About 5 km NW of Kasteli, a sign on the road indicates the way to
the Monastery of Kallergi,
a lovely place, shady and cool, full of flowers. The church of Aghios Ioannis
was renovated in 1912, according to the inscription on the belfry, but bears obvious
architectural elements belonging to earlier dates.
The abbot Methodios Perakis bought the monastery in 1874 from the
larger monastery of Vidiani in the
Lassithi
plateau. There are traces of monks having lived here at a much earlier date,
and according to M. Karavelakis, the present building was erected ca. 1850 on
the ruins of an older one.
The monastery was abandoned after its 1912 renovation, and a fire
completed its destruction in 1931, burning down over 800 trees. Nowadays, the
ancient church is in reasonably good condition and the main building has been
restored, with the vaulted SW part turned into a refectory. There is a newer church
built just outside the precincts of the monastery.
