The monastery of Agia Irini is located 25km south of Heraklion and 3km west of Kroussonas village, at an altitude of 630m.
It is among the oldest and most prospering monasteries in Crete and very well preserved by the nuns.

The two-aisled church of the monastery is dedicated to St. Irene and the Assumption and is celebrated on May 5 and August 15 respectively.
It is believed it was built at the end of the Venetian Era and belonged to a Catholic feudal family.

In the years of the Ottoman occupation the monastery had developed considerable social activity and functioned as a hideout for the rebels against the Turks.
In 1822, after they had destroyed the village of Kroussonas, the Turks slaughtered all the monks of the monastery.
Its restoration started in 1936 by priest Demetrios Fasoulakis and in 1944 the monastery reoperates as a nunnery.

Photo by: mellos pantelis