Crete and Orthodox Christianity

Since the emergence of Christianity in Europe, the island of Crete has tended toward the center of Orthodoxy. A lot of religious monuments are concentrated on the island. Orthodox traditions and daily life of the population are inextricably interconnected. The history of Christianity in Crete has about two millennia. In the I century it was preached by the apostle Paul with his disciple Titus who later became the first bishop of the island.

Currently, the island of Crete is an archbishopric diocese, separate from the rest of Greece, and there are there very many churches, and dozens of monasteries, which played a significant role in the development of Christianity in this territory. In the nunneries there are many nuns, up to 60 people, but in each monastery are only 3-4 monks. The Cretan Archdiocese consisting of 8 Metropolises is a semi-autonomous one, recognized by all Orthodox churches, and is acting under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The status of semi-autonomy was received on December 20, 1965, and it became an Archbishopric on February 28, 1967.[1]

The head of the Cretan Church is the 82-year-old Archbishop Irinaios (Athanasiadis), elected to this post in 2006.

There are also old-calendarists who have not adopted a new style (a Gregorian one). They do not have canonical contacts with any Orthodox Church.

Early years of Orthodox Christianity on the island and asceticism

Before going to Rome, St. Paul spent two years on Crete preaching the Christian teaching. The centuries-old tradition of asceticism began from that time and is still preserved. According to a legend, the Apostle Paul lived all said time in a small cave near the village Kali Limenes, and the cave is now open to visitors. On the eve of his departure to Rome, Paul has consecrated his disciple Titus as the first bishop of Crete.

The new forbidden belief began to spread gradually on the island. After the Milan Edict of 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance for Christianity in the territory of the Roman Empire, the first large churches began to be built.

After an appearance on Crete of John the Hermit, a powerful trend of asceticism began to develop there, and it continues to this day. Hundreds of hermits retreated to remote corners of the island and formed whole ascetic communities that later turned into thriving monasteries.

For many people, asceticism can be useful: not only for those who are interested in them by virtue of their faith, but also for the ordinary modern man, who is interested in self-improvement, which, as is known, is impossible without cleansing the body and consciousness of everything superfluous. Among other things, Christian asceticism includes a variety of posts, vows, ideas of humility, love for one’s neighbor and overcoming the “complex of flesh”.

A special example of asceticism is the Katholiko monastery on Cap Akrotiri, where the monks live in caves and perform their service far from worldly pleasures. Also important were religious communities on isolated peninsulas of Gramvoussa and Rhodopou. There are there several small monasteries.

The most important habitat of hermits became the naturally isolated impassable mountains of Asterousia to the south of Heraklion. In hundreds of caves between Agios Nikolaos and Cape Litino still live hermits. They practically do not communicate with each other. Hermits of the region of Agiofarago and Marzalo gather once a year in the cave of Goumenospilios to find out how many of them survived the year.

In eastern Crete, in the northern province of Mirabello, there is the largest area of ascetic dwelling, where dozens of small monastic buildings are erected. Here the hermits build tiny monasteries and are usually living alone there.

The first Christian monuments of Crete

The first basilicas were built in the IV century. Their ruins are still striking in the size and grandeur.

There are found about 80 such basilicas on Crete. Their number indicates economic prosperity, since the construction of such large monuments required enormous costs. In Gortis, the capital of Crete before the arrival of the Arabs, there was the largest basilica dedicated to Saint Titus. Its remains can be seen near the village of Mitropoli, and in Gortis Archeological Reserve, there is a smaller one dedicated also to this saint.

In addition to the basilicas of Gortis, ruins of such monuments can be seen in Hersonissos, Frangokastello, Elounda, Almirida, Panormo, Goulediana, Sougia, Eleftherna and in other places on Crete.

Cretan School of Icon Painting

On the island there are traces of early Christian basilicas, chapels in caves as well as Byzantine churches painted with ornaments corresponding to trends of the time.

Particular attention should be paid to the post-Byzantine school of iconography that existed on the island of Crete in the XV-XVII centuries, when it was held by the Venetian Republic. The school of painting was preserved on the Ionian Islands when the Turks exiled the Venetians from Crete in the middle of the XVII century.

The Cretan school of iconography combined Byzantine patterns with motifs of Italian art. The works of its masters were ordered by both Orthodox and Catholics. Some paintings were ordered with the use of only Greek or only Catholic style. The Cretan school of icon painting reached its peak in the Venetian period. The most famous of its representatives were such masters as El Greco, Michael Damaskinos, Theophanes the Cretan, Emmanuel Tzanes and Theodore Poulakis.

November 2017