Varsamonerou Monastery
The Varsamonerou Monastery, also spelled as the Valsamonerou Monastery is a Greek Orthodox former monastery, now church, situated near the village of Voriza, in the Heraklion region of south-central Crete, Greece. It is built on the south slopes of Mt. Ida, approximately southwest of the city of Heraklion. The site has a panoramic view of the Mesara Plain.
History
The monastery dates from the early Venetian period but the exact date of its establishment is unknown. Venetian archives dating as early as 1332 refer to it as Chiesa della Madonna di Varsamonero. The monastery acted a regional monastic and cultural centre until the 15th century. The nearby Vrontisi Monastery was established as its metochion around 1400. According to an inventory taken in 1644, the monastery had in its possession various philosophical texts and manuscripts by Xenophon, Aeschines and Plutarch. TheVarsamonerou Monastery started to decline after 1500 and was eventually abandoned in the 18th century, and is uninhabited. Restoration works overseen by the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities are ongoing.
Architecture
The main building is a two-nave church. The northern nave is dedicated to the Virgin Mary Hodegetria and the southern one to John the Baptist. A third, transverse nave is dedicated to Saint Phanourios. The church is covered with high-quality frescoes that date from the late-14th until the early-15th centuries. These frescoes are among the most important samples executed in Crete during the Venetian era and survive in excellent condition. The church was restored in 1947.The exceptional wood-carved iconostasis of the church is displayed at the Historical Museum in Heraklion.