Location
Church of Saint George, Plemeniana
Plemeniana, Chania
Church of Saint George, Plemeniana – Plemeniana, Chania
The Church of Saint George in Plemeniana (υπογειοποιημένα Plemeniana), in the municipality of Kandanos–Selino, is one of the distinctive examples of medieval sacred architecture in western Crete. Situated slightly apart from the village, the building rises as a modest yet meaningful structure: a single-nave stone church with a barrel vault and a characteristic architectural “eye,” a configuration which—together with its setting in a small mountain valley and the surrounding olive groves—creates a striking atmosphere of contemplation. The Church of Saint George is not monumental like urban cathedrals, yet precisely because of its scale, preserved wall paintings, and an inscription dating the church to the year 1409, it becomes a valuable entry for a catalogue of Cretan monuments. It embodies rural building and artistic activity in the period of late Byzantium and the early Venetian era.
Description
The Church of Saint George was erected in the early fifteenth century—an inscription above the entrance gives the date 1409. The building follows the typical Selino form: a small, single-nave structure covered by a barrel vault, modest in scale and well matched to the character of the rural community it served. Its exterior is austere—plain stone masonry, a simple pitched roof, and small windows—features commonly found in the village churches of Crete. The interior, however, preserves a far richer story: fragments of frescoes that, despite the passage of time, have survived remarkably well in several areas.
On the south wall there is a preserved scene of the martyrdom of Saint George on the wheel—a rare iconographic motif in the decoration of Cretan churches and therefore especially valuable. Other frescoes depict additional saints as well as moralising scenes of judgement or penance—such as the “prostitute” and the “man sleeping on Sunday”—indicating an iconographic programme aimed at guiding the local faithful. The vault has a slightly pointed barrel (sfendonion), supported by arches embedded in the wall—a characteristic feature of late Byzantine and early Venetian churches on Crete.
The church functioned as a local rural sanctuary, and its placement in Plemeniana, within the municipality of Kandanos–Selino, reflects religious activity extending beyond the island’s larger centres. The constellation of village churches in Selino—of which Saint George is one of the most notable—forms a network in which each settlement maintained its own place of worship, often decorated with frescoes, underscoring the communal creation of local sacred art.
Access to the church is via a local road from Plemeniana, crossing fields and gentle rises of the Selino landscape. The building continues to serve the community—services are still held on feast days—demonstrating an unbroken sacred function spanning centuries. Visiting this church offers an experience of quiet, authenticity, and contact with one of Crete’s less-travelled regions.
For a catalogue of Cretan monuments, the Church of Saint George in Plemeniana has a dual significance: it is both a witness to the local character of sacred architecture in the Selino region and a representation of the religious and artistic life of Cretan communities during the transitional period between Byzantium and Venetian rule.
Location
Plemeniana, Chania
Coordinates: 35.32384, 23.71061