Church of St. Nicholas and Presentation of the Theotokos

The Cathedral of St Nicholas and the Presentation of the Virgin in Drapanias, Chania, was built between 1850 and 1880 and consecrated in 1896. It is a two-aisled, barrel-vaulted church with notable stonework on the sanctuary, doors, windows and bell tower. The intricate cypress-wood iconostasis is the work of Ioannis Koufakis, made in 1911; its gilding and colouring, according to a revealed inscription, is a work of the hagiographic house of the Brotherhood of the Monk Daniel, Katounakia, Mount Athos, 1931. The church holds many icons from the 16th and 17th centuries, and a miraculous icon of St Nicholas dates from the 14th century. The original cement bell tower, which replaced one struck by lightning in 1950, was demolished in 2004 and a new stone one erected in 2004-2005. In 2008 the 28th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities conserved the church and its stone courtyard.