Agios Minas Cathedral

Greek cathedral in Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Agios Minas Cathedral

Religion
Affiliation	Greek Orthodox
District	Archbishopric of Crete
Location
Location	Heraklion, Greece
Architecture
Architect(s)	Athanasios Mousis
Completed	1895
Specifications
Length	43 m (outer)
Width	29.5 m (outer)

The Agios Minas Cathedral (Greek: ῾Ιερός Μητροπολιτικός Ναός ῾Αγίου Μηνᾶ)^[1] is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Heraklion, Greece, serving as the seat of the Archbishop of Crete. Ιt is dedicated to Saint Menas the martyr and wonderworker (285-309 A.D.), who is the patron saint of Heraklion.

History

It was built from 1862 to 1895. The construction was interrupted during the Cretan Revolution of 1866–1869.^[2] The church has a cruciform architecture with a central dome.^[3] The floor plan of the church has external maximum dimensions of 43,20 m length and 29.50 m width and a surface area of 1,350 m².^[4] It is the largest cathedral in Crete and one of the largest in Greece. A small and old church of Agios Minas is located in the proximity of the cathedral.^[5]

Gallery

Front view of the cathedral of St. Minas Heraklion
St. Minas Cathedral Heraklion, South-West facade with tower and dome
Agios Minas Cathedral Heraklion floor plan
Interior view of the church
Agios Minas Cathedral Heraklion, view of the Templon
Agios Minas Cathedral Heraklion Interior
Agios Minas Cathedral Heraklion, Interior dome fresco Christ Pantocrator
Agios Minas Cathedral Heraklion, Icon of St. Minas

References

^ Official website of the Archbishopric of Crete, List of churches
^ Short history of the cathedral (tourist info website www.explorecrete.com)
^ Saint Minas cathedral drone view (2017)
^ Chiotaki Aspasia, Bachelor Thesis with title Religious Tourism in Heraklion, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, 2009
^ "Costas Alefantis, chapter 12 - Description of the architecture of Agios Minas church, Bachelor Thesis with title "Electro-acoustic study of Saint Minas church in Heraklion", Technical Educational Institute of Crete, 2005 (pdf file in Greek)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2018-04-24.