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| Bay of Chania: view from the Gonia Monastery |
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| At the Gonia Monastery |
Interestingly, this Orthodox monastery was built on a temple, back in the 12th century A.D. But it was destroyed on many occasions due to pirates, earthquakes, or wars. The actual construction dates back to the Venetians in the 17th century.
However, it is not simply its history or religious value that is worth considering. Its location, the way it is orientated as well as its geometrical architecture need to be considered more carefully.
1.A physical situation. Several aspects characterize its chosen location, keeping in mind that it was originally a Cretan Temple.
- It is on the eastern coast of the peninsula, about 1km north of Kolymbari.
- Consequently, if the main entrance is on the mountainside (W), the opposite side is overlooking the Cretan Sea (E).
- It is not only orientated but also respecting a trilogy order (mountain/earth/water) conspicuous of the conceptions in place during the Antiquity. To illustrate this consideration, Greek Mythology was based on a three-leveled world: Zeus (in the air), Poseidon (in the sea), and Hades (inside the earth). The three gods were all brothers.
2.A symbolic orientation. Obviously, the construction was chosen due to its precise orientation adopting the shape of a cross.
- The Rodopi Peninsula represents a North to South ax as opposed to a West (mountain) to East (sea) ax.
- Therefore, the site follows the course of the Sun. As a matter of fact, the church choir is directed to the East. It implies that entering the monastery means to follow a path towards Light.
3An architectural conception. The actual monastery has been designed like a fortress by the Venetians, following a strict geometric design.
- The sanctuary is designed in a square shape with the monks’ cells opening on the inside yard on three sides (except the Eastern one).
- This square is directional [+]. The Eastern portion opens on the sea (symbol of life) and the East (sunrise, symbol of birth and light).
- The orthodox shape is built on the eastern corner and its belfry is shaped in a triangular shape [Δ] with the two corners on the roof [image 1a].
- The belfry tower is rising up at the central point of the yard revealing a new symbolic vertical ax linking the Low with the High [image 1].
- The yard represents a spiritual corner of the Earth as its floor designs illustrate it. The main entrance opens on a dark corridor opening on the sunlit light in the yard and having an open terrace on the opposite side facing both the sea and the East. It seems to indicate a spiritual path towards the Light.
3.The design on the yard floor. This is the most remarkable aspect of the architectural design in this monastery. The two assets are that they adopt the making of mosaics except that they use tiny pebbles carefully adjusted; but also that they strictly use white as opposed to black. The fact that they look like pebbles means that they were collected from the nearby seacoast. It confers them a special value.
If now we watch carefully the shapes on two sorts of designs, this is what we can see.
3.1. Coming out of the entrance hall, there are two identical large designs on the yard floor [image 2].
It shows a large rectangular shape with a circle in the middle. The whole design has the appearance of a rug [image 3].
- The frieze around the rectangle is filled with volutes, an oriental decoration symbolizing the air, a spiritual domain [image 4].
- There are three decreasing circles. The external one is obviously associated with the Sun. The inner one is empty except for the central dot, a reminiscence of the original void and its expansion in the Universe. This inner circle also stands as a nascent sun star. The design in the next circle seems to have the shape of the Greek letter [Phi] Φ. It is repeated 7 times. Is it an evocation of the Biblical 7th Sky where the Throne of God is located? On a more prosaic stand [Φ] is made of a circle [O] divided by [I]. The primeval egg is split in two. By the way, mathematics also uses this sign to represent the golden ratio [1,618].
3.2. The other design lies just at the entrance door of the church. This time, the four universal symbols are represented in an artistic manner: the central dot, a cross-shaped wind rose, a large circle, and finally a perfect square [image 5].
4.The cultural heritage of the monastery. There is an interesting underground museum at Gonia Monastery. It has a particularly rich collection of Orthodox icons.
Christian Sorand
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| B |
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| C |
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| At the museum |
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| [1] The church stands in the midst of the inner yard. |
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| [1a] The 3 crosses form a triangle. In the belfry, there are 5 bells. |
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| [2] |
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| [3] A stone carpet design |
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| [4] The circle within the square |
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| [5] The church door design |
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| Location of the Gonia Monastery |
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