Presentation of the Virgin Mary Holy Metropolitan Church
The Presentation of the Virgin Mary Holy Metropolitan Church is a Greek Orthodox cathedral, located in Athinagora Square in the old town of Chania in Crete. It was originally built during the late period of Ottoman rule, between 1850 and 1860. The church contains three aisles, of which the central aisle is dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin, the south aisle to the Three Hierarchs and the north aisle to Saint Nicholas. In the church are icons by well-known Cretan icon painters of the 19th century, such as Antonios Revelakis, Antonios Vivilakis, E. Triolitakis and Ioannis Stais. Some in the iconostasis have silver covers made by local goldsmiths. Above the iconostasis of the central nave are frescos of SS Peter and Paul by the painter Kokotsis. In the dome above the sanctuary is the fresco of "She who is Wider than the Heavens" depicting the Virgin Mary and painted by Nikos Giannakakis. An epigram written in Greek on the pediment of the front wall reads "Ye who walk here see the church of the Mother of God, built by faithful children of the Church finding refuge like frightened birds in the middle of a storm under the wing of