Situated some 16 kilometers far from Chania, at the Northeast at Akrotiri Peninsula, the Monastery of Aghia Triada (the Holy Trinity) is the bigger monastery complex in Crete. The Monastery has been established in early 17 th century by the brothers –both monks- Laurentios and Ieremias Tsangaroli, Orthodox of Venetian origin, after whom it has taken its name. The earlier buildings are representative of the Cretan architecture of the period.
The Monastery used to have a lot of precious items, which were destroyed or pillaged by the Ottomans during the Greek Revolution of 1821. As it occurred with most of the Monasteries in Crete, the Monastery of Aghia Triada played an important role to the Cretan revolts of 1866 and 1878, mainly thanks to its very active abbot Grigorios Papadopetrakis.
The Monastery had been renovated in 1854, when there had been added the chapels of the Saint Crucifixion and of the Saint Apostles, whereas from 1892 it had been established an Orthodox Seminary. |