South-east of the Marathi settlement, 6 km from Parikia, the Monastery of Saints Minas, Victors and Vicentios is located on a hill. The founder of the Monastery, built in 1594, is the Cretan Antonios Damias. His son Isaiah Damias was the first abbot of the monastery until 1639. The Stauropigia Monastery is mentioned in a seal of 1797 and until today belongs to the Damia family. Kon/nos Damias (Agas), owner of the Monastery and its property, was an activist of 1821. The monastery complex, abandoned today, is of a fortress type with high white walls. The temple can be seen as well as some two-story arched buildings with stairs and courtyards. The temple, inscribed cruciform with a dome, has a wood-carved gilded iconostasis with important despotic images and a portico. The Monastery of Saints Minas, Victor the Great Martyr and Vincent of the Deacon Holy Martyr celebrates on November 11th.
Editor: Niki Kalopaidis