Toplou Monastery Palekastro, East Crete

17 May Toplou Monastery

Posted at 17:34h in Makri Gialos by CretanVillas

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Toplou Monastery is a currently active monastery located in a semi-arid area of the Lasithi regional unit on the eastern part of the island of Crete in Greece.

It is about 6 km north of Palekastro village and 85 km east of Agios Nikolaos. It is at the base of the Itanos promontory from which Cape Sidero, the easternmost point of Crete, projects to the northeast. The nearest settlements are Sitia to the west Palekastro to the southeast; otherwise, the entire promontory is uninhabited except for the modern military reservation at the tip of the cape.

The monastery is dedicated to Panagia, Virgin Mary, and St. John the Theologian. The monastery, especially the main building, is a composite of structures resulting from its frequent destruction and consequent rebuilding. Different parts of it have different dates of origin. These appear in the literature as different “foundation dates.” More accurately the original foundation date remains unknown, while the others are only rebuilding dates.

The oldest identifiable structure is the northern nave of the church in the inner courtyard, which has two. The northern once stood alone before any fortifications had been built. It is and perhaps originally was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Cape. The frescoes on its walls are as early as the 14th century. This is the only solid evidence of its earliest known date. The evidence dates to a century well within the period of Venetian sovereignty over Crete. The Venetians, however, were of the Roman brand of Christianity, whereas the monks were Greek Orthodox. Not enough is known to be able to extend the date back into times when the Orthodox were ascendant.

Winery of Toplou monastery

It is a great pleasure to inform you that Toplou monastery again this year the “Tasting Room” of the winery is ready to welcome the visitors of the island. In Toplou Monastery visitors, individuals or groups could taste or even buy the organically grown wines and spirits produced in the facilities of the Winery of the company “Ktima Toplou SA”.

The products are produced exclusively from the vineyards of Toplou Monastery, where the Liatiko, Thrapsathiri, Vilana, Mandilaria and Assyrtiko varieties are mainly cultivated.

On the Toplou Fabrica Website, either individual visitors or groups that you organize to visit the area could make a reservation on a specific date and time, so that the best service would be possible.