Venice: Sant’Alvise

The church of Sant’Alvise can be found in the north of the Cannaregio quarter, which is a fairly quiet part of Venice. “Alvise” is the Venetian version of “Luigi” or “Ludovico”, and in this case Sant’Alvise is the Franciscan saint Louis of Toulouse (1274-1297). He was said to have appeared…

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Venice: San Giobbe

The church of San Giobbe can be found in a fairly remote part of Venice and can be reached from the railway station by foot in about fifteen minutes. Our visit to the church started with a minor incident. The church has only one entrance, which has two wooden doors.…

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Crete: Moni Arkadiou

On a plateau to the southeast of Rethymnon we find the Arkádi monastery, a complex that plays an important role in the history of Crete. According to tradition the monastery was founded in the fifth century by the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius (383-408). It was supposedly named after him, but…

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Crete: Heraklion

Heraklion is the capital of Crete. With over 170.000 inhabitants, it is also by far the largest city on the island. Although there is a lot of traffic and congestion, it is still pleasant to walk through the streets of the historical city centre, where in most places only pedestrians…

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