EASTERN CRETE

Returning towards Armeni, where on
the crest of the hill the blades of a wind farm
spin dizzyingly, on the plain below one can
make out the ruins of the monastery of Ayia
Sofia, of which there remain some Venetianera
rooms surmounted by wide arches and
blocks from columns and capitals. Used for
a short time as a school during the Turkish
occupation, but ever since with neither
students nor vocation, the grey stone
monastery has fallen into total abandon.
Ruins and small
churches are
reminders of the
past centuries,
often troubled and
rife with
intolerance
Lifting one's eyes up from the
monastery to the high wall of rock that
faces onto a narrow gorge, one can see two
small cave churches dedicated to Ayio
Pneuma. Both little churches are modest,
dug into the rock, and their iconostases too
are simple screens between the altar and the
space reserved for the faithful, with a few
icons of the saints, but it is worthwhile
climbing up this far to sit on the stone
benches and meditate, on the beauty of
the nature here and of the sky amid the
great silence.
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