Kapsa Monastery

Kapsa Monastery
Μονή Καψά
Monastery overview
Religion
Affiliation	Greek Orthodox Church
Region	Crete
Patron	St. John the Baptist
Location
Country	Greece
Geographic coordinates	35°1′13″N 26°3′7″E
Architecture
Date established	maybe 15th century

Kapsa Monastery (Greek: Μονή Καψά) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery situated on the southeast coast of Crete, between the villages of Makrys Gialos and Sitia in the west and Goudouras and Ierapetra in the east. It is built on a steep, rocky mountainside near the exit of the Perivolakia gorge, which overlooks the Libyan Sea.

History

Stairs to the monastery church.

Kapsa monastery was most probably established in the fifteenth century, although no exact date of its founding is known. In 1471, Ottoman pirates raided the monastery and destroyed a large part of it. In 1841, it was rebuilt by a famous monk, Joseph Gerakionts who spent his last years in a nearby cave. Moni Kapsa is a metochion of Toplou monastery. During the Axis occupation of Crete, the monastery often sheltered Greek partisans and allied soldiers of the Allies.

Architecture

The main building (katholikon) is a two-nave church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Current status

Today, Kapsa functions as a monastery for male monks.