Agia Paraskevi (Αγία Παρασκευή) is a nice little byzantine church in the Amari Valley which is a very fertile plain located on the foothills of Mount Ida and Mount Kedros in the prefecture of Rethimno.
This byzantine church was build about one kilometer away from Kalogeros (Καλόγερος) probably in the 13th century during the venetian occupation. The church is dedicated to the holy Paraskevi living between the 2nd and 3rd century AD.
Paraskevi was known as a healer of the blind. After saving emperor Antonius Pius eyesight she was restored to freedom and emperor Antonius ended the persecution of the Christians in thanks. But then she finally died because the new emperor Marcus Aurelius began again the persecution and Paraskevi became a martyr due to her religious faith and is still well known today.
The church of Agia Paraskevi is a good example for a crossed-dome church which is typical for the middle- and late-period of byzantine churches. Inside you will find a separation to the altar with four icons, the most left one shows the mentioned holy Paraskevi. Opposite to the entrance there is an arcosulium covered with glass. The wall behind shows a poorly preserved fresco dated to the 14th century on which you can see four characters adoring jesus. The church of Agia Paraskevi was restored in 1888, unfortunately the frescos are still in bad shape.
Anyhow … we think this location is really worth visiting. Take some time to explore this nice little church.
To get here you have to leave the main road (see additional waypoints) for some hundred meters
Nevertheless the cache is hidden and you have to remove 'something' to get it – please do this carefully! We recommend to be very carefully grabing in holes or other unclear aeras – especially if you are searching together with your kids. You should know that there are some kind of animals which could harm you more or less. It is not very likely to encounter these animals while you are on your cache tour. But it is better to know about any possible risks!
Many thanks to WIND&WATER for supporting our cache in case maintenance is needed!
We wish you happy hunting!
wisamobi
Please be so kind and ...
try to log this cache in English so that as many as possible fellow cachers are able to understand the log entries.
Many thanks!