Coordinates: 35°1′13″N 26°3′7″E / 35.02028°N 26.05194°E / 35.02028; 26.05194

Kapsa Monastery

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Kapsa Monastery
Μονή Καψά
File:Kapsa Monastery overview, August 2016.jpg
Monastery overview
Religion
AffiliationGreek Orthodox Church
RegionCrete
PatronSt. John the Baptist
Location
CountryGreece
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Architecture
Establishedmaybe 15th century

Kapsa Monastery (Greek: Μονή Καψά) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery situated on the southeast coast of Crete, between the villages of Makrys Gialos and Sitia in the west and Goudouras and Ierapetra in the east.[1] It is built on a steep, rocky mountainside near the exit of the Perivolakia gorge, which overlooks the Libyan Sea.

History

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File:Moni Kapsa R05.jpg
Stairs to the monastery church.

Kapsa monastery was most probably established in the fifteenth century, although no exact date of its founding is known. In 1471, Ottoman pirates raided the monastery and destroyed a large part of it. In 1841, it was rebuilt by a famous monk, Joseph Gerakionts[1] who spent his last years in a nearby cave. Moni Kapsa is a metochion of Toplou monastery. During the Axis occupation of Crete, the monastery often sheltered Greek partisans and allied soldiers of the Allies.

Architecture

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The main building (katholikon) is a two-nave church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Current status

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Today, Kapsa functions as a monastery for male monks.

References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).