Odigitria Monastery is 65 km away from Heraklion, after Messara valley, on the western side of the Asteroussia mountain range. It is subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and has noteworthy icons and holy canonicals. The holy fathers Parthenios and Evmenios, who also rebuilt Koudoumas monastery, took their vows here in 1862.
Father Parthenios, the monastery's abbot, will give you a warm welcome, and he will eloquently tell you the story of the monastery and the surrounding area. Efforts have been made in recent years to renovate the buildings within the monastery boundaries, which are dominated by Xopateras tower. Xopateras was bom in the now-derelict village of Manoussanas in 1788, and his real name was loannis Markakis. He was forced to leave the monastery because he stop ed a Janissary who insulted his family, and the bishop defrocked him. As of then, he was called Xopateras (Unfather) or Xopapas (Un-priest), and became a legend after the drama that took place in the monastery with him as the hero. In February 1829, 3000 Turkish soldiers and riders were sent to exterminate him. They eventually got the best of him and succeeded in stop ing one of Messara's bravest men. The asphalt road leading to the monastery starts in Sivas village, but if you want to continue to Agiofaraggo and Kali Limenes, you will have to follow a rather rough dirt road. A few kilometres south-west of the monastery you will see its dependency, Agia Kyriaki. Do stop and visit it, as it is actually a Hellenistic tomb, dug out of the soft rock which has been turned into a church. It is an impressive square, I 2x 12 m structure.
One kilometre after the church, you will come to the crossroads for Agiofaraggo. The name Agiofaraggo (Saints' gorge) is due to the fact that many hermits used to live there. It ends in a beautiful bay, with a sandy beach and crystal-clear water. The road crossing the gorge to a certain point is extremely rough, and it will probably take you about an hour to reach the beach. You should avoid the hottest hours of the day for walking, because the gorge has few trees and there is little shade. Altematively, you can reach the beach by boat from Kali Limenes. Martsalos is a 2-km long gorge, which starts in the north and ends in a small picturesque beach on the Libyan Sea. Apostle Paul disembarked there when he was being taken to Rome. In its centre you will find the cavechurch of Panagia ( natural Mary) or Panagia sto Martsalo, dating from early Christian times and believed to have also functioned as a catacomb, where the Christians fled to escape the various invaders. There are cells carved into the rocks around the church, and traces of old buildings. The gorge belongs to the same unit as Agiofaraggo, and the road for both starts at Odigitria Monastery, south of Messara.