The Assumption Cathedral () also called Catholic Cathedral of Chania and alternatively ''Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary'' is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

, on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

It was built in 1879 by the first Catholic bishop of Crete, Aloisio Cannavo, to serve the entire Catholic population of the region. In 2004, the cathedral celebrated its 125th anniversary. The church is under the responsibility of the

Capuchin Order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the o ...

. The cathedral follows the Roman or

Latin rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

and is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Crete The Diocese of Crete () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located on the island of Crete in the ecclesiastical province of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in Greece. History Roman Catholic presence on the island of Crete dates ...

(''Dioecesis Candiensis'' or Επισκοπή Κρήτης) that was originally created in 1213 and was restored by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in 1874.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assumption of Mary Cathedral, Church Roman Catholic cathedrals in Greece Buildings and structures in Chania Roman Catholic churches completed in 1879 Churches in Crete 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Greece

History

See also

References