Saint George Church at Kato Prina

At position Kato Prina between the villages Prina and Meseleri we meet the church of St. George , nicknamed the “secret school”.

The Byzantine church of Saint George is very well hidden in a hillside surrounded by very dense vegetation of shrubs, trees and gardens. From afar one cannot see the church, but the cypress trees around it.

A short distance from the temple there is a spring which irrigates the local fields. The water was transferred through a channel that passes directly in front of the church.

A few meters east of the church there is an old olive tree, one of the most unknown of Crete, with remarkably large trunk. This hidden place was, according to tradition, a secret Christian school during the Turkish occupation of Crete.

The old church does not bear frescoes but its historical importance makes it a significant monument. Inside the church there is a small passage to a vaulted hidden room, which was the school room.

According to tradition this room had 100+1 arches but one was destroyed, but it is not a true fact (this narration is occasionaly met in Crete). There is a backdoor for escaping in case of a Turkish attack.

Around the temple we meet a perennial cypress tree and the ruins of some buildings, maybe monk cells.