Agios Minas

1. Agios Minas
Agios Minas is the patron saint of
Heraklion and its memory is celebrated on
November 11, day off in Heraklion
Saint Minas was born in
Egypt in about the mid-
3rd century AD from
heathen parents, but he
became a Christian when
he was teenager. When he
came of age he decided to
make a career in the
Roman army and served
as an officer in the Roman
cavalry in Asia Minor.
In 303 AD He began
persecution of Christians by Diocletian and
Maximian, which lasted until 311 AD Roman
soldiers were ordered to arrest and torture
Christians to make them renounce their faith.
Agios Minas, loyal to his faith, he resigned from
the Roman army and became a hermit in the
mountains. At the age of fifty years, divine vision
revealed that the time had come to testify. He
abandoned the protection of the mountain and went
down to the city, where in front of the pagans said
to be a Christian.

2. He was arrested, taken to prison and tortured
horribly. In flogged, flayed him and dragged him
naked on a road with sharp stones. Despite the
horrible martyrdom, the saint refused to renounce
his faith and finally beheaded. Agios Minas
established patron saint of Heraklion the Ottoman
period. Different Cretans and Turks religion was a
major cause of violence by Muslims against
Christians. Tradition tells us that Easter 1826 while
the Christians were gathered in the temple and
attending mass of resurrection, mobs of Muslims
preparing massacre against them, which was
avoided by the intervention of an elderly officer
rider. The horseman he looked like the henchman
of the Turks, the holy Aga, who calmed down and
prevented the slaughter of Christians. The
operation is the mysterious horseman, Christians
attributed to the miracle of Saint Minas, believing
that it was he who presented the Turks and not the
holy Aga. But even if the Turks were right and it
was Saint Minas, the officer on horseback was a
miracle Turkish persecutor of Christians (holy
Aga) to act as their protector at the last minute.
Since then St. Minas is depicted on horseback as a
Roman general and revered as protector of the city
of Heraklion. Says George Syllamianakis, in his
book "Agios Minas" in 1939, that not only
Christians considered protector of the city Agios
Minas and the Turks, who came across St. with fear
and respect.

3. Agios Minas Cathedral
The imposing
church of
Agios Minas,
one of the
largest in
Greece, was
founded on
March 25,
1862 as an
expression of
gratitude Herakleoton for the protection offered by
the Saint in the city. The position in which it was
built, called been indicated by a monk to whom St
Minas appeared in a vision.
Architect temple was built by Athanassios Moussis,
who had also undertaken Saint Titus and the
barracks in Eleftherias Square, the building that
now houses the Prefecture and the Courts.
The rebuilding of the temple stopped during the
revolution of 1866 and continued in 1883. The
effort to build the church in such difficult times
was supported by all the locals enthusiastically.
Referring to the newspaper "Heraklion" of that
time, that the port of Heraklion arrived sailboat
carrying building materials for the construction of
the temple. However the Committee had
undertaken the construction of the church did not

4. have the money to pay laborers to carry the cargo
from the ship to the place of the building. The fact
that the schoolchildren of Heraklion
enthusiastically offered to unload the ship and
deliver materials.
Forming a human
chain from the
harbor to Saint
Minas and
singing along to
the hard work.
The cathedral
was inaugurated
with great pomp
in 1895 for metropolitan Timothy
Kastrinogiannaki. Although Crete was still under
Turkish rule, the celebrations for the inauguration
of Saint Minas lasted three days and the whole city
was unrecognizable with its decorations and bright
lights.
Team :
Eleni Kalikaki
Niki Androulaki