MONI ARKADIOU
A historic monastery
Arkadi Monastery is a historic monastery in Crete. According to tradition, it was founded by the emperor Heraklion and rebuilt around the 5th century by the Byzantine emperor Arkadi, whose name bears his honor. Others said it was founded by a monk named Arcadia and hence the monastery is calles Arkadi.Remains of the first monastery have been preserved in the northwestern part of the precinct.
The most important part of the monastery of Arkadi is the central two-storey church, the Catholic, which is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior (one corridor) and Saints Constantine and Helen (the other corridor), which is surrounded by very dense walls in which there are various ancillary buildings. The Turkish yoke in Crete dates back to two hundred and fifty years when - after the ongoing uprisings - the Cretan revolutionaries began to gather in Arkadi from March 3, 1866. The attack began on November 8, 1866. There were 964 souls, 325 men and the rest in the monastery women and children.