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Sights - Iraklio Prefecture |
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Vrondisi Monastery |
| The Vrondisi Monastery is situated 4 km west of Zaros on the slope towards the Rouvas forest. |
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The monastery is thought to be founded as early as the second Byzantine period, but did not reach its great period until the last centuries (16th-17th century) of the Venetian period. This period is also called the Cretan renaissance because the cultural life at that time began to flourish, and well-known artists such as Michail Damaskinos and El Greco (Dominikos Theotokopoulos) painted their unsurpassed icons which united Byzantine and Venetian art of painting. | ||
| The former painted six of his icons in precisely the Vrondisi monastery where they were until the year 1800 when the metropolitis of Crete, Gerasimos Pardalis, moved them to the Agios Minas church in Iraklion in order to save them in future as the monastery at that time was deserted. |
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Today they are at the icon museum in the Agia Aikaterini Sinaiton church (also in Iraklion). | ||
| The square in front of the monastery is embellished with two giant plane trees of which the one to the left is hollow after a stroke of lightning. |
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Beside the tree is a beautiful well from the Venetian period representing Adam and Eve and the four rivers in the Garden of Eden symbolized by four faces from where the water flows both day and night. | ||
| The monastery was earlier surrounded by heavy walls as known from most monasteries from the Venetian period, but now there are but only parts of the west wall remain today. |
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In the middle of the court stands the two-nave church dedicated to St. Antonios and St. Thomas. | ||
| The southern nave still has remains of frescoes. |
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It is also worth noticing the clearly Italian inspired belfry in the church end - and not least the magnificent view over the valley with the Asterousia mountains in the background. | ||
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