Arkadi Monastery
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The Arkadi Monastery (Greek: Μονή Αρκαδίου, Moni Arkadiou) is a 16th century monastery located 23 km south-east of Rethymno on the island of Crete. It is famous for the Cretan Revolt (1866–1869).
[edit] Uprising of 1866-1869
By the mid-1800s, the Turks had occupied Crete for more than two centuries, despite frequent bloody uprisings by Cretan rebels. The monastery of Arkadi became the rebels' headquarters, owing to its central position on the island and it's strategic location.
There were 259 rebels in the monastery and 12 out of the 16 revolutionary committee's members. In addition to the rebels and revolutionary leaders, there were 700 unarmed women and children from nearby villages who were seeking refuge from the Turks.
On November 8, 1866, the Monastery was surrounded by 15,000 Turkish soldiers armed with 30 cannons. The Turkish commander gave Abbot Gabriel Marinakis an ultimatum, which was to either surrender or the Monastery would be destroyed. The ultimatum was answered by gunfire from the rebels.
After several days of fighting the Turks, by sheer weight of numbers penetrated the Monastery's walls. As they poured into the inner courtyard, where they fought a hand to hand fight with the rebels. The women and children sought refuge in a gunpowder room where they decided it would be better to commit suicide than surrender to the Turks. Konstantinos Giamboudakis set the gunpowder off and caused the explosion which killed the 700 women and children and several hundred Turkish soldiers.
The Greeks killed over 3,000 Turks and Egyptians in the battle.
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