KATHOLIKO MONASTERY
Monastery leaning against the walls of the Avlaki gorge, a cave accessible before the arrival.
This monastery, 20 kilometres from Hania, abandoned by the monks in the 17th century in favour of Gouverneto's monastery, backs onto the walls of the Avlaki Gorge. It can be reached on foot via an impressive path, paved and paved by the monks themselves: it links Gouverneto Monastery to Katholiko and ends in a sensational way at the seaside and the small port, which was once used by the monastery.
The monastery, founded in the 11th century by St. John the Hermit, also known as the Stranger, is cited as the oldest in Crete. In the 17th century, under the direction of Jeremiah Tsagkaroglou and thanks to drawings borrowed from the architect Sebastiano Serlio, the complex was transformed and it is under this aspect that we visit today.
Hermits used to lead their ascetic life in the cells in and around the courtyard. Before arriving at the monastery there is a cave decorated with stalactites which, according to legend, was occupied by St. John the Hermit before his death.
Opposite the entrance, a natural water reservoir is said to have exceptional virtues and was probably used for baptisms. It is possible to enter the cave, but in some places the passage is difficult. According to excavations carried out, the place must have been used as a place of worship during the Minoan period. Bring an electric lamp if you want to see what it all looks like. Every year, on October 7, the day of its feast, hundreds of pilgrims come here for a ceremony preceded by a procession.
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