Your Position:
Unknown
Λεπτομέρειες ΕικόναςImage details
More Photos
Upload your photos for Church and share them with us! Press here.
Address:
Ανώγεια 
Telephone:
Places near Church
The Monastery of Agia Irini is situated 5 kilometers far from Rethymnon town at the South, at a small distance before arriving to the village of Roussospiti. It is one of the older monasteries on the island.
This very old monastery is considered to date back to as early as the 14th century. However, at some point it was destroyed by the Turks in 1866 and henceforth remained entirely deserted. It flourished during the Venetian period and continued to exist up until the Turkish occupation of the island.After restoration works were started in 1989, the monastery was given new life due to the eager activities of the nuns. Today the monastery also represents the heart of folklore traditions, which are protected and preserved by the nuns in the field of handicraft in general and of weaving and embroidering in particular, since it houses a permanent exhibition of needlework produced by the nuns themselves.
This very old monastery is considered to date back to as early as the 14th century. However, at some point it was destroyed by the Turks in 1866 and henceforth remained entirely deserted. It flourished during the Venetian period and continued to exist up until the Turkish occupation of the island.After restoration works were started in 1989, the monastery was given new life due to the eager activities of the nuns. Today the monastery also represents the heart of folklore traditions, which are protected and preserved by the nuns in the field of handicraft in general and of weaving and embroidering in particular, since it houses a permanent exhibition of needlework produced by the nuns themselves.
The village of Roussospiti is situated above the town of Rethimnon with a marvellous view of the sea and the “Lefka Ori” (White Mountains). Rethymnon is about 70 kilometres from either Chania or Heraklion airport on the National Road.
Then it is 8 kms to Roussospiti; this journey will take about 1:30 hours. There are two access roads to the village:a) Rethymnon, city centre, about 8 kilometresb)Misiria, about 8 kilometres with direct access to the National Road
Today there are about 700 people in our village. Half of them are “Real Roussospitiani” and the remainder are foreigners or Greeks from other parts of the island /country. There are two churches in the village, the old “Isodou Theotokou” and the “Agia Paraskevi”, where every Sunday a Greek-orthodox mass is celebrated. “Agia (Saint) Paraskevi” is the patron saint of the village, and on July 26, her name day, there is a big village celebration.
In Roussospiti there is a kindergarten and a primary school for the local children. There is also a Minimarket, a “kafenion”, a kiosk and two “tavernas” for the benefit of locals and visitors alike. At the moment we are fighting to get a regular bus-service to “Rethymnon”.
The origins of the village are supposed to date back to the Venetian times (around 14th century). Whilst excavations were being made in the old church “Isodia tis Theodokou”, coins were found, which date back to the year 1000.
There are two stories about the name Roussospiti. The word “spiti” means house. The first story says, that the first house in the village, built by the Venetians, was a red (Italian rosso) house. The second version refers to a Russian (Rousso) lady, who was ill. She came to Crete because of the healthy climate and built a house, which can still be seen to this day.
From about 1500 the Venetian power was replaced by the Turks. Around 1600 the village is supposed to have had 30 houses and a Turkish ruler, who had 300 slaves working for him. At this time a lot of Greek surnames were created having –akis on the end, which you still find today. This is a grammatical diminutive and the Turks forced the people to put it at the end of their names. The idea being to keep the Cretans psychologically “little” (for example Mylonas=Miller, Mylonakis=little Miller). Surnames on Crete without the ending –akis belong very often to families who left Crete during the Turkish occupation, mostly to Asia Minor.
Login with
Facebook