Ι. Μονή Παναγίας Ελεούσας - Αγίου Φανουρίου, Κιθαρίδα, Ηράκλειο

The Church of Agios Fanourios stands in a fertile valley at Kitharida, 21 kilometres from Heraklion. It was once the katholikon of a women’s monastery dedicated to the Panagia or Kyra Eleousa. A monastery existed here from the second Byzantine period, the 11th century, with its peak under Venetian rule (1204-1669). It became a men’s monastery under the Turks, serving as a metochi of the Agia Eirini monastery. The complex included cells, guest quarters and a library, most destroyed by the Turks in 1821 and 1841. A school was founded here in 1841, one of the first in the Cretan countryside. Today only the katholikon, part of the cells and part of the school survive. The church has three aisles (dedicated to Agios Charalampos, the Dormition and Agios Fanourios) and a narthex added before the sanctuary, probably in the 12th or 13th century. A rare feature is a dome over each aisle. The exterior is decorated with circular ceramic plaques and paintings of birds, including a Spanish one from the early 15th century inscribed ‘Ave Maria gratia plena’. Fragments of wall paintings survive inside.