The Holy Cross Monastery of Chrysopigi was founded in Chania during the last period of the Venetian occupation (end of the 16th century). The founder was Chaniotis Ioannis Hartofylakas, doctor of medicine and philosophy, an important person of his time with a great influence in the society of Chania. During the Venetian period, Chrysopigi was a spiritual center for Crete with many monks and a rich library. During the Turkish occupation, the spiritual tradition of the Monastery continued and the Monastery was transformed into a patriarchal crucifix. The fathers participated in the historical struggles of the local people. The monastery suffered a lot from the Turks and was destroyed in the year 1821, during the Greek revolution. In the 19th century it was restored and re-manned.
In World War II, the Germans turned the Monastery into a command post. They forced the monks to leave and caused great damage to the architectural structure of the buildings. A period of withering and decline followed. In 1976, the Chrysopigi Monastery was converted into a women's monastery. The new fraternity restored it from the ground up while carrying out a wide renovation project on an environmental and spiritual level. The Monastery today has a thirty-member brotherhood and receives numerous pilgrims from Greece and abroad, including many young people, who discover the authenticity of life in the worship and tradition of the Orthodox Church.
Source: Holy Metropolis of Kydonia & Apokoronou
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