St. Mark’s Basilica: An ornament building in the heart of Heraklion

The Basilica of St. Mark, is a building of exceptional beauty, in the center of the city of Heraklion. It was built in 1239 by the Venetians and even if it was destroyed by an earthquake (1303), it was immediately restored. In 1669 it was converted into a mosque and in 1956 it took the form it has today.

After the exchange of populations in 1924, the basilica first passed into the possession of the National Bank while eventually ended up in the ownership of the municipality. The minaret was demolished in 1924. In 1949, the Heraklion Tourism Committee proposed the financing of its restoration along with other monuments of the city. In the early 1950s, the town council proposed the Bacilica to be demolished and be replaced by a municipal theater and a post office, a proposal which was abandoned after funding could not be secured. In 1954 the archaeological council decided to preserve the building and in 1956 the restoration of the basilica began by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies. This was the oldest restoration of a monument of western architecture which took place in Crete. The basilica is one of the few surviving buildings of the Catholic Church in Cretan cities.

After the restoration was completed in 1960, the church is used as a municipal gallery and hosts art exhibitions. In 1961 it hosted the first international Cretan conference, which took place under the auspices of the Society of Cretan Historical Studies. Among the exhibitions that took place in the Basilica of St. Mark, was the exhibition with works by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1990) and works by the Cretan School (1993).

Inside it, there are tombs of the Venetian dukes of Chandakas, and it houses the Municipal Gallery of the Municipality of Heraklion. The gallery mainly exhibits periodic exhibitions of various artists from Crete and all over Greece, but from time to time, the permanent works of local painters that have been donated to the gallery, are also exhibited.

Προηγούμενο άρθροΜανώλης Κονταρός: Από τις όμορφες Βρύσσες Αποκορώνου στα πέρατα του κόσμου
Επόμενο άρθροΤο σπίτι του Ελ. Βενιζέλου στη Χαλέπα