English
Trimartiri Cathedral: The iconic church of Chania city with a turbulent history spanning six centuries
Trimartiri Cathedral is the prominent church in the picturesque Chania Old Town. It is a church with impressive architecture in the Venetian style.
Trimartiri serves as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Chania city. It is dedicated to the Presentation of Virgin Mary.
There is historical evidence that there was a church in the spot in the 14th century, during the Venetian era of Crete, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is possible, though, that there used to be an older church on the site since centuries earlier.
During the Ottoman occupation of Crete, the building lost its religious character and functioned as a soap factory. In that time, in one corner of the building, and with the tolerance of the local pasha, there was the sacred for the Christians icon of the Presentation of Virgin Mary. In front of the icon, there was always a lit candle, making it an unofficial shrine for the Christians of Chania city.
During the 1850s there was agitation in the Christian population of the city, as the main Agioi Anargyroi church had become too small for the growing local Christian population. At the same time, the soap factory that functioned in the old church’s premises proved to be a financial failure.
These led the local pasha to approve the construction of a big Christian church in the site of the soap factory. This way, he would avoid unrest from the Christians in Chania city.
So in 1860, Trimartiri Cathedral was built in the spot where it still stands today. But the church suffered big damages twice during historical events since that time.
The first was during the Cretan revolution in 1897. After the revolution, the church damages were repaired with sponsorship from the Tsar of Russia, who wanted to maintain good relations with the Cretans after the Russian bombardment in the Akrotiri area in previous years.
The second time the church was damaged was during World War II in the bombardment of Crete from the Germans in 1941. Again, the local population managed to find the required funds to restore Trimartiri Cathedral to its former glory.