Holy Cathedral of Agios Titos

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SIGHTS

Agios Titos Cathedral

The Church of Agios Titos is an Orthodox church in Heraklion, Crete, dedicated to Agios Titos. The current church was built in 1869 as the Jeni Mosque and in 1925 it was dedicated to Christian worship.

SIGHTS

The church was declared in 2013 the cathedral of the archdiocese of Crete. The building is an eclectic style tetragonal temple with a dome. The outer side of the temple is dominated by the vertical elements, while at the top there is a stone-carved epitaph

History

After the reconquest of Crete by the Byzantines in 961, the episcopal seat was moved from Gortyna to Handakas (today's Heraklion), which became the capital of the island. Then the new metropolitan church was built in Khandaka, dedicated to the apostle Titos, the first bishop of Crete. The temple was a single-aisled corridor. Various relics were brought to the church, among which the Holy Cara of Titos and the icon of Panagia Mesopanditissa. In 1210, Crete came under the control of the Venetians and the Latin archbishop was installed in the temple. The temple underwent some modifications, such as the opening of a circular skylight and the construction of a bell tower. This first temple was destroyed before the middle of the 15th century.

The church was rebuilt in the style of a three-aisled basilica and was inaugurated by the archbishop of Crete, Fantinos Dandolo, on January 3, 1446. Although it was slightly damaged by the earthquake of 1508, it was destroyed by fire on April 3, 1544, from which the relics and relics of the church were saved. . The temple was rebuilt in the same style in 1557. After the conquest of Khandaka by the Turks in 1669, his relics fled to Venice and the temple was converted into a Muslim mosque, dedicated to Zade Fazil Ahmed Kioprulis, conqueror of Khandaka. The mosque was known as the Vizier Mosque. The building was destroyed by the earthquake of 1856.

The current building began to be constructed in 1869 according to a plan by Athanasios Moussi, who designed, among other things, the metropolitan church of Saint Minas. The new mosque became known as the Jeni Mosque, although it retained its old name. After the integration of Crete into Greece and the exchange of populations, the building was repaired by the Church of Crete and dedicated to Orthodox Christian worship on May 3, 1925. The minaret of the mosque was demolished. On May 15, 1966, the chariot of Saint Titus from Venice was returned to the church. [1]

From 1974 to 1988, fixing and restoration works were carried out on the temple.

In 2013, the church of Saint Titus was declared by the Archbishop of Crete Irenaeus Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Crete