The 154th anniversary of the destruction of the Arkadi Monastery on Crete was commemorated this week — sadly without the presence of local officials and the public, due to restrictions to prevent exposure to the coronvirus.
The monastery was held by Cretan rebels fighting against Ottoman rule of the large Aegean island, and defended almost to the last man, while a large group of women and children who took shelter in the monastery died in an explosion when a cleric fired the gunpowder store, rather than surrender to the Ottoman troops.
A Divine Liturgy and Doxology memorial service was held on Sunday at the Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Arkadi, with the Metropolitan of Rethymno and Avlopotamos, His Eminence Evgenios, officiating.
