Arkadi Monastery

Perched on a fertile plateau about 23 kilometres southeast of Rethymno in Crete, Arkadi Monastery is a Greek Orthodox house of worship whose roots reach back to the Byzantine era. Its katholikon, completed in the 16th century, blends Renaissance Revival style with Roman and Baroque elements. As early as that century the monastery was a centre of science and art, home to a school and a rich library. Restoration work on the central building and outlying structures, including the stables to the west, continued into 2000.