On My
CreteDream (part2) I told Crete is full of churches. There are also many monasteries. We visited two of them.
Agia Irini Monastery locates for about 5 km south from Rethymno and
HopOn HopOff bus tours offer easy access there if you are not biking, hiking or renting a car.
The monastery locates about 260 m altitude and offers excellent views to Rethymno, mountains and over the countryside.
It is one of the oldest monasteries of Crete and still today nuns live there. It is open for visitors but only guided. Remember to respect the dressing code because it is their home. It has beautiful church, church yard and gardens.
Despite they welcome visitors for free and show the church for everyone I didn't feel so "at home" there. We went there by HopOn HopOff bus and we had at least for one hour time for the visit. I'd like to see it more and longer but somehow we got the feeling we were wanted out via the shop they have. Most of that hour we spent sitting outside on the small yard waiting for the bus in the heath seeking for shadow. Unfortunately that seemed to happen also to the visitors before and after us.
The Monastery of Arkadi has 3€ fee for the entrance but children under 18 years get in for free. We visited the monastery for twice. It is a very beautiful and welcoming place. You can get there by a coach trips but also by a local bus (under 4€ fee to one way on June 2017). There is a big parking place for tourist buses and cars so if you rent a car you don't need to worry about parking. For about 100 meters before the monastery there is an ancient cobbled street so if your navigator alarms you about unpaved streets on your route nearby the monastery that's it. Also the parking place is unpaved and huge so don't worry about it.
They also have good toilets (for disabled too) and parts of the monastery and church are accessible also by a wheel chair.
If you happen to crash in at the same time with tourist crowds wait for a while. Instead of staying long they hurry by and after them you can see it all silent, peaceful and calm. Some tourist guide books and evaluations say The Monastery of Arkadi is a relatively small place and you see it in half an hour. If you just walk it all through, that is true. For our first visit we stayed around for about 4 hours and 1½ hour on the second visit to see it once again. Despite we stayed there for so long and twice they didn't seem to mind at all.
The monks still live in there. It is their home; so please, respect the dressing code they ask. Despite they open their home to you they all are humans and like you, they wish the guests behave in the certain way. They let you see it all, sneak around, be curious and tourist behavior and still they ask only one thing so why not to dress respectful. As a white woman I don't feel it discriminating or subjecting. I neither visit grandparents or nursing homes wearing "what ever". I neither go to work wearing too revealing despite it includes gym lessons.
The monks have set up the church yard very beautiful way. It offers sun and shadow, shine and shelter.
They have many fabulous roses about which someone has been taking good care of.
For the last time I saw such a pretty collection of roses at
Karen Blixen Museum in Denmark.
We spent many hours in there admiring the museums they have set up but also the church yard and surrounding area.
Around the monastery you can see beautiful objects filled with hand made crafts.
As usual, in the church itself (and museums) photographing is not allowed. I sat in the church all together for 2 hours. The art they have in orthodox church is incredible. All the beautiful icons, paintings, wood work, silver work and textile art fill up the place. Only by sitting and watching you can see and feel it all proper. If you decide to sit down there I warmly recommend change your sitting place always after 20-30 minutes. In that way you can notice even more and better but also see it all from another point of view so it opens even more experience to you. I got so inspired there and already know what I want to learn for the next in silver work!
Around the monastery opens beautiful view all around the area. There is also a tavern with a big souvenir shop just next to the monastery. I didn't like so much about the tavern because there was far too many flies to which they seemed to do nothing. As a horse girl I am used to flies but on our visit there were too many of them hanging around the food. There were many times more of flies that we saw at
Zoraida's Horse Riding! There was also so called livestock yard behind the tavern but there were only few goats and one unhappy ostrich. The play ground they had for children was great and fenced.
The monastery has also its own shop where you can buy even products from the monastery. But no one leads you there or cheats you in. It is your own choice. By the parking place there was also a woman selling fresh cherries on our first visit. The flies didn't show up on the monastery area which was very clean and tidy also around the parking place and toilets.
You don't need to be interested about religion to go there. If you are interested about history, roses, arts and crafts this is perfect place for you to visit and spend some time.
