Azogires: The Honest Guide to the Village of the Holy Fathers near Paleochora

Azogires is a small Selino village a few kilometres from Paleochora with one story to tell, and it is a good one: the cave where, by tradition, 98 hermits of the tenth century died together on a single day. The cave, a 19th-century monastery on the traditional site, an evergreen plane tree and a small museum make an hour’s visit — an outing from a Paleochora stay rather than a trip in itself. What no official source publishes is when the doors are open. Described from our own visits; distances, prices, hours and rules are a check of published sources, October 2026.

The honest facts

Where

a village of Selino a few kilometres north-east of Paleochora, on an asphalt road.

The cave

the cave of the Holy Fathers, which the Region of Crete calls impressive and open to the public, without hours or access details.

The monastery

founded in 1864 near the village, on the spot where tradition says the Fathers settled.

The plane tree

in the monastery grounds; a protected natural monument that, unusually for a plane, keeps its leaves in winter.

The museum

a small one at the monastery, with later church relics and folk objects; no published hours.

The feast

7 October, the day of the Holy Fathers.

Fire order

Azogires is not named in the 2026 order; the nearby Anydri gorge is.

The Holy Fathers and their cave

The tradition, as regional sources tell it, begins in the tenth century with hermits who left Egypt for Cyprus, where more joined them, and then the coast of Asia Minor, where their number reached 99. Bound for Crete, they were driven by a storm onto Gavdos, then crossed to the mainland and settled in Selino, under a plane tree beside a cave. One of them, John the Hermit, went on alone and ended his days at Katholiko on the Akrotiri peninsula, which our Akrotiri monasteries guide covers. The other 98, the story goes, asked to die on the same day, and did, together in the cave at Azogires.

Under Venetian rule the cave became a place of worship. The Region of Crete lists it as open to the public and puts the Holy Fathers’ feast on 7 October, when, by regional accounts, pilgrims come and stay in the cells around the monastery.

The monastery, the plane tree and the museum

The monastery of the Holy Fathers stands in a wooded spot near the village. A long-running regional guide says the Cretan chieftain Konstantinos Kriaris founded it in 1864 on the traditional site, and describes its church as a single nave. In the grounds stands the plane tree under which the Fathers are said to have settled: a protected natural monument which keeps its leaves through the winter, and in whose branches local belief counts 99 crosses, one for each Father.

A small museum on site holds later church relics and historical and folk objects. No official source publishes opening hours for the church, the museum or the cave, so ask in the village rather than plan around a time, and dress for a church.

Getting there and when to go

Azogires lies a few kilometres north-east of Paleochora, and the regional guide gives the access as asphalt; do not count on a bus. Spring and autumn suit a visit best, and the feast on 7 October is the day to expect company. In summer, go early or late in the day.

Azogires is not named in the Region of Crete’s 16 June 2026 fire-season order, which applies to the end of the fire season on 31 October; the Anydri gorge close by is, on its category 5 list, closed on red fire-risk days.

The morning around it

Azogires pairs naturally with Anydri, a few kilometres away, whose church of Agios Georgios has frescoes dated 1323 and whose gorge runs down to Gialiskari beach; our Anydri gorge guide has the walk. The painted churches along the inland road through Kandanos belong to the same Selino story.

Then swim. Paleochora’s two town beaches, Pacheia Ammos and Chalikia, and Grammeno to the west are all on the 2026 Blue Flag list; Grammeno and Krios covers the beaches beyond town, and our Sougia and Paleochora guide the base itself.

The honest downside

Azogires is a short visit built on a legend, and almost everything that makes it worth the drive depends on someone being there: no official source publishes hours for the church, the museum or the cave. On a quiet weekday you may find the plane tree, the outside of the monastery and little else, and on its own it does not justify a long drive.