Arkadi Monastery is the most famous monastery on the island of Crete, and one of the most beautiful monasteries in Greece.
It’s a small working Eastern Orthodox Monastery in the hills above the city of Rethymno, with some of the best beaches in Crete 15 minutes’ journey down the hill.
Arkadi is a popular day trip destination from Rethymno and even Chania and Heraklion, both of which are around 80 km (50 miles) away. It was the scene of what is often called the Cretan Holocaust in 1866, when the Monastery was besieged by Turkish forces as a small force and around 70 women and children sought refuge there.
The Cretans held out for three days against overwhelming numbers and odds. Eventually they decided they would prefer to die rather than face capture by the Turks, and the abbot blew up the gunpowder store, killing those inside. The Cretan revolt failed, despite worldwide sympathy, and the island was finally incorporated into modern Greece in 1913.
The Arkadi site is fortified, a reminder of its often turbulent past. Inside, the highlight is the beautiful church with the honey-coloured Venetian Baroque façade. There’s also a tree in the courtyard with bullet holes from the 1866 siege, and it’s also possible to visit other chapels, the refectory and the small Museum inside.
