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Monastery of St. John the Baptist

The convent of St. John the Baptist with the few nuns is located on the Akrotiri peninsula near the village Korakies and it is just 7 km from Chania.

The monastery of St. John the Baptist was founded during the Byzantine period. Its catholic and the two chapels are still preserved.

The original monastery was destroyed by the Turks after the revolution of 1821. The buildings were burned and the nuns abandoned it. The Monastery of St. John the Baptist reopened in 1867 and flourished until the outbreak of the Cretan Revolution (1896-1897). The nuns then moved to neighboring monasteries and helped in their own way in the struggle of liberation against the Turks.

The Cretan revolutionaries used the monastery as barracks and helped in its preservation. That is why the graves of the fallen Cretans lie inside the Monastery of St. John the Baptist.

In August 1897 the reconstruction begun. In 1941 the monastery passed into the hands of the German occupiers, until 1944, when it functions again after the liberation.

Even now, the first thing that meets the visitors is the high wall that surrounds it. Upon entering, the visitor realizes the integration of nature and the dedication of man to God. The tranquility and silence surround him, soothing the tension of the  daily life. In the Library of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, there are about 2,500 theological and historical books.

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