Preveli Monastery
| Moni Preveli | ||
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 Southeast view of the monastery |
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| Data | ||
| place | Agios Vasilios , Rethymno | |
| Construction year | 16th Century | |
| Coordinates | 35 ° 9 '27 " N , 24 ° 27' 22" E | |
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| particularities | ||
| Part of the semi-autonomous church of Crete | ||
The Preveli Monastery ( Greek Μονή Πρέβελη Moni Preveli ) is a monastery (Gr. Μοναστήρι, Monastiri ) in the south of the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete . It is located in the municipality of Agios Vasilios of the Rethymno regional district .
The monastery represents a religious center of the diocese " Lambi , Syvritos and Sfakia ". It belongs to the semi-autonomous Church of Crete , which is subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople and has been associated with the Church of Greece since 1913 . In addition to the Greek flag , the double-headed Byzantine eagle flies on a golden background in the courtyard of the monastery complex. The commitment of the monks for the freedom and independence of the Greek inhabitants of Crete as well as for further education established the supra-regional reputation of the monastery.
Geographical location
Moni Preveli consists of two building complexes, of which only the "rear monastery", Piso Moni Preveli , is still inhabited. It stands 170 meters above sea level above the coast of the Libyan Sea , the south coast of Crete. The distance to the prefecture capital Rethymno is 23 kilometers, that to the capital of the municipality Finikas, Plakias , seven kilometers. The next inhabited village is 1.5 kilometers northwest of Gianniou . The rocky coast near the monastery only offers limited access to the sea. The nearest shipping berths to the east are the bay of the palm beach of Preveli at the mouth of the mountain stream Megalopotamos , to the west, the bay of Schinaria, 3.5 kilometers away .
The so-called "Lower Monastery", Kato Moni Preveli , is located two kilometers from the sea coast in the valley of the Megalopotamos . It was abandoned in the 19th century and is now a ruin site . The buildings of the former monastery of Moni Preveli were destroyed during an uprising against Turkish rule and partly rebuilt as a museum in 2015. You are two kilometers northeast of Piso Moni Preveli , below the road that leads to the inhabited part of the Preveli monastery . About 300 meters north of the ruins, the only passable passage for motor vehicles was built at the Great Bridge over the stream bed of the Megalopotamos , over which one reaches the village Drymiskos on unpaved roads in an easterly direction and the beach Drymiskiano Ammoudi to the south-east .
description
The access to the Preveli Monastery leads after the junction from the road between Asomatos and Lefkogia, first along the western side of the Megalopotamos to the "Lower Monastery of John the Baptist" (Gr. Κάτω Μοναστήρι του Προδρόμου, Kato Monastiri tou Prodromou ). As the full name indicates, the former subsidiary monastery on Megalopotamos was dedicated to John the Baptist . The year 1594 is affixed to the bell tower of the monastery church. In the past, the former residential and farm tracts were inhabited by both monks and farm workers who were involved in growing wine, olives and grain for the monastery. Kato Moni Preveli was protected from the outside by a sloping base zone. After hippies camped in the covered ruins in the 1970s and 1980s , the area was fenced off. Entering the facility is prohibited.
Passing a branch on the left to the palm beach of Preveli , the road continues to a developed parking lot in front of the "Rear Monastery of John the Evangelist" (gr. Πίσω Μοναστήρι του Θεολόγου, Piso Monastiri tou Teologou ). The monastery building is in excellent condition, only the currently unused accommodation buildings behind the monastery church are left to decay. Since the monastery was destroyed several times, no buildings from the time it was founded have survived; they were built over when new buildings were built. After 1960 the monastery began to decline, so that it is currently only inhabited by three monks. The grounds of the monastery can be entered for a small fee. Special staff was hired to organize the tour.
The two-aisled hall church in the center of the Piso Moni Preveli monastery , based on the model of the Arkadi monastery , was built from 1835 and consecrated to John the Evangelist in 1836 . It has a carefully painted and fully preserved iconostasis made of recent cypress wood . The church's gold-plated reliquary cross set with precious stones with depictions of the baptism and crucifixion of Christ is said to contain a fragment of the cross of Jesus . The cross of Evraim Prevelis , as it is called, is said to cause miraculous healings . It is used on May 8th, the highest holiday of the monastery, to bless people with eye diseases. The church interior also contains a carved bishop's seat and a richly decorated pulpit. The bell tower is dated to 1629. The church, like the entire monastery, was destroyed for the last time in 1867 and restored from 1911.
Next to the church is the former guest house with the abbot's apartment , a wing of the building opposite the main entrance. The adjoining southern part of the churchyard is also the roof of the south wing, ancillary buildings which, due to the sloping terrain, form a second, lower floor. From the entrance of the monastery you can reach the different levels via several stone stairs. At the lower courtyard to the east of the church there is a spring fountain set into a wall. It contains the motto "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ" ( NIPSON ANOMIMATA MI MONAN OSPIN , "Wash off your sins, not just your face"). It is a palindrome that can also be read backwards.
The entrance to the museum is on the other side of the cloister courtyard. In a long, low vault, some objects belonging to the Preveli monastery are on display for visitors. These are sacred objects, in addition to old icons, especially vestments and altarpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to the various images of saints, you can see gilded chalices and crosses, offerings from the faithful, church pews, documents and richly embroidered abbot's robes. The monastery museum also has a collection of old books. The possibility of visiting the museum is included in the low admission price for the monastery.
The lower-lying parts of the building facing the sea to the south serve as stables and storage rooms. The enclosed animal enclosures, in which mainly goats and deer are kept, are followed by a small cultivated area with olive trees. South-east of the monastery complex is the cemetery with a chapel for the storage of bones at the visitor parking lot next to the main entrance . A door in the back wall of the monastery leads to a hidden assembly room, a former meeting place for monks and resistance fighters against Ottoman rule. A dirt road begins north of the monastery building and leads over the ridge to Gianniou.
history
There are indications that there was already a monastery on the site of Kato Moni Preveli on Megalopotamos at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century, i.e. during the second Byzantine period on Crete, when many monasteries were founded on the south coast . The first documented year for the existence of the Preveli monastery , on the other hand, is the engraving of a monastery bell that indicates the year 1594. The bell tower of today's Church of St. John the Evangelist in Piso Moni Preveli is dated to 1629. The likely foundation of the monastery in the 16th century, in the Venetian era of Crete, was carried out by a landowner named Prevelis (Πρέβελης), who may have come from Preveliana Monofatsiou in the Heraklion regional district . It initially belonged to the Diocese of Lambi ( Sybritos ), but was later directly subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople .
During the conquest of Crete by the Ottoman Empire, the monastery was destroyed for the first time by the Turks in 1649, like numerous other church institutions. After the reconstruction at the end of the 17th or early 18th century, it became a religious, as well as social and national center of the Orthodox Greeks of the regions of Agios Vasilios and Sfakia in the resistance against Turkish rule. Within a peculiar system of political tolerance, the Ottoman state granted the remote parts of Crete limited freedoms and some monasteries special privileges. Moni Preveli was therefore not rebuilt as a defense structure. With the influx of monks from abandoned monasteries or monasteries in the area that had merged with Moni Preveli , the monastery was given larger lands. Moni Preveli thus became one of the wealthiest monasteries on the island with extensive land ownership and excellent economic organization. In addition to Piso Moni Preveli as the spiritual center, Kato Moni Preveli served the economic basis of the monastery with his agriculture .
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The monasteries of Crete directed their efforts not only to the protection of the Orthodox Church, but also to the preservation of the Greek cultural traditions. With the goal of Cretan independence, they formed a network of resistance against Ottoman rule. This was not just limited to providing places of refuge for insurgents; people actively participated in the fight against the occupiers. In 1770, the abbot Evraim of the Preveli monastery was involved in the revolution supported by the Russian Empire of Ioannis Vlachos from Sfakia , known as Daskalogiannis (Δασκαλογιάννης). Abbot Evraim was sentenced to death by the Turks for killing a Janissary , but pardoned after the uprising was put down. The “Blessing Cross” of the Preveli monastery also dates from this period, the second half of the 18th century , which is why it bears the name Cross of Evraim Prevelis . He is said to have miraculously healed eye disorders. Today it is housed in a shrine in the monastery church.
During the revolutionary events of 1821, the abbot of the Preveli Monastery at the time , Melchizedek Tsouderos (Μελχισεδέκ Τσουδερός, 1803-1823), became the most important leading figure in the uprising. He was a member of the secret organization "Filiki Eteria" ( Greek Φιλική Εταιρεία ) and organized the first rebel units against the Ottoman occupiers. The rebels were financed and equipped by the monastery. On May 25, 1821, Abbot Tsouderos hoisted the flag of Greece as the first Cretan resistance banner in Kourkoulo, a settlement in the mountains above the village of Rodakino . In retaliation, the Ottoman troops destroyed the monastery, but the abbot was able to bring all monks to safety beforehand. He himself later continued to fight in western Crete, where he was injured in the course of the battle near the village of Polemarchi near Kissamos on February 5, 1823. Abbot Melchizedek Tsouderos died while he was being transferred to Platania , where he was also buried.
After the suppression of the uprising from 1821 to 1823, the underground activities of the Orthodox monasteries of Crete focused on the establishment of "secret schools". At the initiative of Bishop Nikodimos von Lambi, Preveli Monastery received more and more funds from 1831 to maintain such a school under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The monastery also developed into a cultural center where local and foreign painters and wood carvers from the early Cretan school worked.
Thanks to the rapid reconstruction after the disaster of 1821, the Preveli monastery was also able to play an important role in the second revolution from 1866 to 1869. Subordinate to the Revolutionary Committee of Rethymnon in the Arkadi monastery, fourteen brothers from Preveli fought under monk Athanasios Mariolakis in the battle of Akonia at the foot of the Vryssinas mountain . After the destruction of the Arkadi monastery, Abbot Agathangelos Papavasiliou of Preveli (term of office 1864–1871) managed the daily supply and accommodation of almost two hundred rebels. In 1867 the rebels in the surrounding villages, together with the monastery brothers, prevented the Ottoman troops from entering the region. They received support from the ship “Arkadi”, which deposited weapons, ammunition and volunteers on the beach in Koraka near Rodakino . With 8,000 soldiers, the Turkish military leader Resit Pascha finally managed to take Kato Moni Preveli and the neighboring villages on July 7, 1867 . The "lower monastery" was destroyed. Piso Moni Preveli could not be taken by the Ottoman associations and continued his active role until the end of the revolution in 1869.
The uprising flagged after the Ottomans were ready to reform and granted a general amnesty. Under Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, a delegates' meeting was convened in Chania, whose proposals, including a multi-year tax abatement, were approved. The foreign powers supporting the Greeks withdrew from the conflict and also forced independent Greece to sever all ties with Crete. The Preveli monastery has now been reorganized. Under Abbot Kallinikos Spitadakis (Καλλίνικος Σπιταδάκης, 1870-1892) the church of St. John the Baptist in Kato Moni Preveli was renovated and the agricultural facilities and accommodation cells were reconstructed. A large olive oil mill was also built.
In 1878 another uprising broke out and the rear monastery, Piso Moni Preveli , was once again a rebel headquarters. It provided supplies of equipment and supplies for the insurgents. At the mouth of the Megalopotamos , on the Limni Preveli , weapons and equipment for the revolutionary struggle were landed by the ship “Panellinion” under the captain Nicolaos Soumelis. The result of the uprising were considerable concessions on the part of the Ottoman rulers under Mukhtar Pasha, such as the appointment of a provincial assembly made up of Christian and Mohammedan deputies, financial independence, the restriction of compulsory service to the gendarmerie and the granting of appropriate privileges for the Christians of the island. The Greek Photiades was appointed Governor General of Crete.
From 1893 to 1916 Abbot Neilos Volanakis, Neilos the Second, ran the Preveli Monastery . During his term of office, Crete became partially independent from December 1897 and the island was annexed to Greece until 1913. The “School of the Holy Spirit” of the monastery received the status of a university during this time. During the uprising in 1896, Moni Preveli was again a center of the Greek fighters. On April 10, 1896, armed forces of the monastery led by monk Manassis Papadakis were involved in a victorious battle against the Ottomans in Sellia . As a result, the monastery properties near Koxare were destroyed by fires. Further fights in which Manassis and his men were involved took place in Asomatos and Fotinos .
After this revolution, Crete became an international protectorate under the appointment of Prince George of Greece as High Commissioner. A number of monks from the Preveli monastery fought again as volunteers in Epirus in 1912 for the liberation of northern Greece from the Ottomans. Otherwise, after the unification of Crete with Greece, which was internationally recognized in 1913, the activities of the monastery again focused on its religious and social role.
Role of the monastery in World War II
After the airborne attack of the German Wehrmacht in Crete on 20 May 1941 and taking the airfield of Maleme in Chania on May 22, who fled the Allied troops of the British , Australians , New Zealanders and Greeks to the southeast towards the Libyan Sea . From June 1941 the island was occupied by Germany , the east ( Lasithi ) by Italy . In the south of Crete, the monks of the local monasteries, together with the inhabitants, organized hiding places for the Allied soldiers who had not reached the ships made available to flee.
Chaired by the abbot Agathangelos Lagouvardos (Αγαθάγγελος Λαγουβάρδος), abbot of the monastery Preveli 1936-1944, one was Commission of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages formed themselves conspiratorial dealt with the problems of the protection and care of the hidden soldiers held. This committee worked until the end of the occupation in May 1945. A group of Australian soldiers tried successfully to contact British submarines from Preveli , with which they were able to set off for the Middle East. The first escape by submarine from the beach at Limni Preveli was successful. The German occupation troops became aware of the second attempt at contact and thwarted the project.
Abbot Agathangelos was now forced to leave the monastery as it was occupied by German troops. However, the monks managed to evacuate on time. The lower monastery, Kato Moni Preveli , was looted and largely destroyed by the occupying soldiers. In the rear monastery, Piso Moni Preveli , some of the monks were arrested and interrogated by three German officers. They were then transferred to Firka Prison, where they were charged with illegally possessing weapons, owning a radio, and assisting fleeing British and Greeks wanted by the occupation forces. Many objects in the monastery, including religious ones such as the cross of Evraim Prevelis , were transported to Rethymno. The cross was later returned.
On the intervention of the Bishop of Kydonias and Apokoronou, Agathangelos Xirouhakis, with the German authorities, the monks of Preveli were released from custody after a short time and were able to return to their monastery. With the help of the local population and other monasteries on the island, they began the work of rebuilding. Support for the Allied soldiers in the underground continued, but was extremely difficult due to the increasing surveillance of the Germans due to the uncovered activities of the monks. In the autumn of 1942 the national liberal- oriented resistance organization Ethnikis Organosis Kritis (EOK, "National Organization of Crete") was founded, whose activities were concentrated in the surrounding mountains. She was provided with information by the Preveli Monastery , among others .
After the end of the German occupation of Crete, the “Regiment of Gyalias” was built up from the population of the region at the expense of the monastery, whose task was to maintain order. Abbot Agathangelos, who had joined the Greek Army as a priest in the Middle East until the end of the war, died suddenly two days before his planned return to Greece. The role of the monastery and its abbot in the fight against the German occupation forces was widely recognized, including by Allied government officials. The gratitude of the soldiers who found refuge and help in the monastery continues to this day. Generous donations and a specially established foundation testify to the deep bond with the monks. On the access road and in the entrance area of the monastery there are several memorial stones that commemorate the events of the Second World War.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Map Δυτική Κρήτη , 1: 100,000, Road Editions, Athens 2007
- ↑ Lambert Schneider: Kreta , Dumont Art Travel Guide 2006
- ^ Georgis N. Petrakis: Plakias , Selena Verlag 2006
- ^ A b Eberhard Fohrer: Kreta , Michael Müller Verlag, 16th edition 2006
- ↑ a b c Website of the monastery: The History of the Monastery
- ↑ Dr. Antonis Sp. Vassilakis: Crete , Publishing House I. Mathioulakis & Co., Athens
- ↑ Website of the monastery: Preveli's Benediction Cross
- ↑ "Plakias", Selena-Verlag, page 50: "Rodakino"
- ^ Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 1885
Web links
- Preveli Monastery website (Greek and English)
- Rethymno: Preveli Monastery
- Vanishing point Preveli ( Memento from December 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (about the story)