Its position is clearly distinguished in the wonderful Renaissance painting of Rethymnon, painted at the beginning of the 17th century by an unknown painter. It even dominates the western side of the hill, right above the source of water in the area of Koumbe. Therefore, at the beginning of the 17th century, the Monastery was founded. If it was its first establishment, its life was short, since it was completely destroyed in 1646, when the Turks conquered Rethymno.
It was rebuilt and reopened as a women's Monastery only in 1935, when the elder Nestoras Vassalos, a well-known icon painter, settled there, after a vision he saw while he was a monk at the Dionysios Monastery of Mount Athos. The two-aisled catholicon is dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Savior and Saint John the Forerunner.
The nuns mainly deal with the art of Byzantine iconography. Excellent examples of their work are the portable icons and the frescoes of the Catholicos. The Ecclesiastical Museum of the Monastery includes the library of blessed Metropolitan Titos Sylligardakis (1970-1987), as well as many of his memorabilia.
Source: Municipality of Rethymno
www.rethymno.gr