The Church of Saint Nicholas ( el, Ιερός Ναός Αγίου Νικολάου) is a

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

church located in the Splanzia square in the town of Chania,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

. Originally a Catholic church, it was converted into a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

during the Ottoman period and then back into a church in the twentieth century. It is the only building in Greece to possess both a bell tower and a

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

History

The church was built around 1320 by the Dominican brotherhood of Candia as a Catholic cathedral. When

fell to the Ottoman Turks in the seventeenth century, the church was converted into a mosque known as the Hünkar Mosque (“sovereign’s mosque”). Accordingly, Splanzia became the Muslim quarter of the town. In the mosque was kept the sacred sword of the Turkish Dervish, who first entered the city, climbed the bell tower and with the sword circled the four points of the horizon calling the faithful to prayer with the phrase: "There is only one God and his prophet is

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

". Throughout the period of the Turkish rule and up to 1912 when Crete was annexed by the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

, the Dervish sword remained in the Saint Nicholas until the exchange of Muslim and Christian populations between Turkey and Greece in 1923, when the Muslim population that had to depart Crete and took it with them. In 1918 the mosque was converted back into a Christian church, Orthodox this time.

Structure

Architecturally, the Monastery of Saint Nicholas of the Dominicans is a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

. The original bell tower of Saint Nicholas was located in the northeast of the church, but it does not survive and had to be rebuilt. To the west of the church is the atrium of the enclosed courtyard of the church, which served as a cemetery for nobles during both the Venetian and Turkish periods. For the conversion of the Catholic church into an Islamic mosque in the year 1645, the necessary additions of the

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

, the minbar and the minaret were made. It was the most important mosque of Chania and its minaret stood out due to its two balconies. The minaret of Hünkar Mosque was built in contact with the southern side of the building and facing its western end; the western side of the minaret was built in contact with a pre-existing two-storey building of the monastery which was demolished some time later. The minaret is cylindrical and is of the classical Ottoman style. The current height of the minaret reaches about 36 metres in height, while together with the conical roof (which is no longer preserved) it should have exceeded forty metres.

Gallery

File:St_Nicolaos_of_Splatzia_1.JPG, Lower angle File:La_Canea,_chiesa_di_San_Nicola_-_Interno_01.jpg, Interior File:La_Canea,_chiesa_di_San_Nicola_-_Interno_02.jpg, Interior File:Chania - Agios Nikolaos - byzantinisches Wappen.jpg, Byzantine coat of arms File:Chania - panoramio (10).jpg, Rear view

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Mosques in Greece

Buildings and structures in Chania Churches in Crete Churches completed in 1320 14th-century churches in Greece Roman Catholic churches in Greece Eastern Orthodoxy in Crete Ottoman architecture in Crete Basilica churches in Greece 14th-century establishments in the Republic of Venice