Arkadi monastery in Crete

Arkadi Monastery in central Crete, 28km south-east of the city of Rethymnon. ... more

by Paul Cowan

Title

Arkadi monastery in Crete

Artist

Paul Cowan

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Photograph

Description

Arkadi Monastery in central Crete, 28km south-east of the city of Rethymnon.
Arkadi has a special place in Cretan and Greek hearts as it was the site of a famous last stand in 1866 - one which ended with the beseiged Greeks - including women and children - blowing themselves and the monastery to pieces rather than surrender to the Ottoman forces.
It was the ultimate demonstration of the meaning of the Greek fighters' slogan "Freedom or Death", and one which reverberated around Europe, leading to increasing pressure for the Ottoman Turks to relinquish their 200-year grip on the Greek island.
The tragedy brought to an end one of the many Cretan uprisings against the Ottomans, which had begun with a victory in the mountain fastnesses of Sfakia only to be followed by defeat in the foothills west of Rethymnon. Some of the fighters and their familes from surrounding villages took refuge in the monastery, believing it would offer them safety, but they were pursued by imperial troops and in early November, 1866, found themselves besieged. Of the 943 Greeks holed-up behind the monastery's sturdy walls, fewer than 300 were fighting men.
The siege lasted for three days before the Ottoman forces broke through, and fought their way into the courtyard.
With defeat now inevitable, and the courtyard a killing ground, one of the retreating Greeks applied a match to a keg of gunpowder in the powder magazine, detonating the lot and killing all but three of the remaining Greeks, together with hundreds of the soldiers.
The roof of the powder magazine has never been replaced and can be seen today. The rest of the monastery was eventually restored (the storage of gunpowder in monasteries is an indication of how closely connected the Church was with the resistance. One of the largest monasteries, Toplou, got its name from the Turkish for "big gun", out of respect for its cannon).
Opposite the main entrance to Arkadi monastery stands a small, modern looking building and inside it, behind a glass panel, are preserved the skulls of many of those who died that day. A macabre monument to remembrance, but not the only one of its kind on the island.
The monastery's significance is such that prior to the adoption of the Euro it featured on Greek banknotes.
It is because of Arkadi that the war memorials in towns and villages for many miles around open their record-keeping of the name of local heroes with the year 1866.
Each November 8 the tragedy is remembered nationwide on Arkadi Day, and a procession makes its way into the hills from Rethymnon to do homage to the fallen heroes.

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January 31st, 2013