Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery (Christ Savior and Saint Gedeon Monastery)
Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery in Rethymno prefecture is located in Margarites, 30 km approximately south of Rethymno.
Built in the early 16th century and subject to Karakalou Monastery on Mount Athos as of the period of Ottoman rule, the Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery initially operated as a female and later was changed into a male monastery.
The owner of the Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery was from Venetian-Cretan family of Dandolo; this is confirmed by the embossed blazon on a tomb, which, even today, remains in a very good condition.
One of the monks who lived in the monastery until 1803, whose name the Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery bears, was the Saint martyr Gideon Karakallinos who hailed from Tirnavos of Larissa. His tomb is in the church of the monastery, along with the tomb of the last monk Kallinikos.
Today the Sotiros and Agiou Gedeon monastery has been renovated after the restoration efforts that began in 1998.
According to a local myth, during the Turkish occupation, the Turks headed towards the monastery to loot it and to slaughter the nuns. The nuns, having escaped from the monastery, hid in a cave in that region. The Turks followed them and when they reached the cave, a white cloud darkened the entrance and saved the nuns.
