# Kreta (GR), Amnatos, Kloster Arkadi -- 2023 -- 8569

- By: Dietmar Rabich
- Date: Taken on 6 September 2023, 10:18
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kreta_(GR),_Amnatos,_Kloster_Arkadi_--_2023_--_8569.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Kreta_%28GR%29%2C_Amnatos%2C_Kloster_Arkadi_--_2023_--_8569.jpg/1920px-Kreta_%28GR%29%2C_Amnatos%2C_Kloster_Arkadi_--_2023_--_8569.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Window in Arkadi Monastery (Μονή Αρκαδίου) in Rethmyno Regional District, Crete, Greece The Arkadi Monastery on Crete, completed in its current Renaissance splendor in the 16th century, is the central symbol of the Cretan struggle for freedom. Its history is inextricably linked to November 9, 1866: during the Cretan uprising against Ottoman rule, nearly 1,000 people, mostly women and children, sought refuge behind the monastery walls. After a two-day siege by superior forces, Ottoman troops stormed the complex. To avoid captivity and shame, the defenders blew up the powder magazine themselves on the abbot’s orders. This self-sacrifice sparked horror and solidarity around the world and ultimately led to the independence of Crete. Today, Arkadi Monastery is a national shrine, whose ruins of the powder magazine and bullet-riddled iconostasis serve as memorials to the resistance.