Moni Odigitrias
 | The monastery of Odigitria is located 70 klm northwest of Heraklion near the village of Sivas. It is old enough but the exact date of its foundation is not known. Many of the monastery's icons are more than 600 years old and an inscription on the outer wall of the monastery is dated 1568. |
The area around Odigitria is dry, without big villages or settlements, something like an arid landscape. A place ideal for isolation. The double nave church stands in the yard of the monastery. One nave is dedicated to the Holy Apostles and the other one to the Birth of Mary.
The tower of Xopateras (ex-father) standing on the left of the entrance is named after a local hero, I. Markakis. He was a former priest who defended himself and his family in this tower fighting with
a small number of people against the Turks. Eventually, the Turks killed them all and decapitated Markakis.
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Lassithi is the easternmost prefecture of Crete. Agios Nikolaos, the capital of the prefecture is a cosmopolitan, coastal town on Mirabello bay.
