The Arkadi Monastery, Crete is synonymous with valor, courage in the face of death, and martyrdom for the sake of duty and honor. Arkadi was a center of rebellion during the nineteenth century when the Turks began to gain control over the region which actually belonged to Crete and hence Greece. The commander-in-chief of the Turks ordered the head of the Arkadi Monastery, Crete to quell the uprising against the Turks if the chief monk wanted to save the dignity of the cloister. However, Gavriil Marinakis, the principal friar of the Arkadi Monastery, Crete remained undaunted by this threat and instead decided to have a showdown with the Turks.
On the fatal day of the 7th of November in the year 1866, the warriors of the Turkish armies launched a brutal attack on the Arkadi Monastery in Crete. The Turkish army comprised some fifteen-thousand soldiers who resembled the janissaries of the Ottoman regime in the way they dressed and fought. The Turkish military personnel were aided by thirty canons too. Their opponents comprised a rag-tag group some nine-hundred men, women and children who resided at the Arkadi Monastery, Crete.
Though the outcome of this conflict was obvious to both the warring sides before it even started, the Greeks in the Arkadi Monastery, Crete battled bravely for forty-eight hours at a stretch and compelled the Turks to order for reinforcements and extra artillery. The Turks bombed the western bulwarks of the Arkadi Monastery in Crete in Greece without stopping till the entrance in this zone of the Monastery crumbled to dust. The Greeks who were immediately aware of their do-or-die state hoped that the Turks would demolish the entire realms of the Arkadi Monastery, Crete so that the vault where the inflammable mixture of sulfur, charcoal and niter was hidden would blow up and would raze the whole edifice and the Turks and their weapons to the grounds. And sure enough, that is exactly what the Turks did causing widespread bloodbath. All the Greeks in the Arkadi Monastery, Crete were wiped out and a huge chunk of the Turkish soldiers were completely dismembered by the powerful explosion.
The news of the shocking battle reached the distant corners of the nineteenth century globe and the battle was condemned by the then leaders of many nations. The repository in the precincts of the Arkadi Monastery, Crete showcases some of the relics of the holy place and fragments of different ecclesiastical articles that bear testimony to the fearlessness of a defeated people who gave up their lives to preserve values and ideals that were and are the essence of Christianity and other religions. Designated as one of the important tourist attractions in Crete, the Arkadi Monastery, Crete is a living reminder of the evil of intolerance and hatred.
For valuable information on the Arkadi Monastery, Crete, visit travel.mapsofworld.
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