Located next to St. Minas Cathedral, the church of St. Catherine is one of the best-preserved examples of the Venetian architectural design of churches.
The monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai was the most important Orthodox monastery in Chandax. The existing building was the monastery’s katholikon dating back to the 16th century.
Under Venetian rule, the monastery of St. Catherine was the place where lessons on the works of ancient Greek writers were given, along with lessons focused on philosophy, theology and painting. Some of the most highly educated persons such as Vincenzo Cornaro, Georgios Chortatzis and Dominikos Theotokopoulos completed their education there.
Today the Museum of Christian Art “St. Catherine of Sinai” operates as a museum. It houses the exhibition of the Archdiocese of Crete showcasing representative works of the “Cretan Renaissance”. The portable icons of Angelos Akotantos and Michael Damaskinos, the most famous painter of the “Cretan School of Hagiography”, are some of the most important exhibits of the museum.
