Crete-Discover the Unknown Crete

Among the narrow
alleyways of Kritsa
na of the Creation) dating from the
thirteenth or fourteenth century, with three
naves and an unusual three-pointed facade,
surrounded by tall cypresses.
The arrangement of the
paintings that cover each of
the internal walls observes the
rigid hierarchy required in that
period: first God and the
angels, then the life of Jesus
and Mary, followed by
representations of Paradise and the Last
Judgement, biblical stories, saints and,
finally, images of men known for their faith.
The saturated colours (the dark red of ripe
pomegranates, the green of the leaves of
ancient olive trees, the ochre and dark
brown of the earth) and the close-packed
sequence of images, each different, each
powerful and vigorous, immersed in the
semi-darkness, rather dizzy the viewer, and
this was, perhaps, precisely what the artist
intended.
The Byzantine
church of Panayia y
Kera with its
beautiful frescoes
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