Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Panagia Kera, Kritsa, Crete

I returned here yesterday. I was here the day before but they closed on Mondays. I did check their website which said, 'opened daily.' It was a long way away, a 2 hour bus ride to the resort town of Agios Nikolaos and another 1/2 hour bus to just before the village of Kritsa. It was worth it. This is a very beautiful church painted in th 13th and 14th Century, small but not too small, very intimate, 3 altars and therefore 3 barreled naves with the middle one accommodating a huge dome. It has a very unusual floor plan. Some of the frescoes have disappeared but a lot still remained and still very vivid. The colors are still vibrant like it was painted not too long ago! Very beautiful, lots of visitors mostly from France and Germany. Panagia in Greek means virgin. So it is a church dedicated to Mary, 'the virgin of Kritsa.'

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