Monastery of the Three Hierarchs (Lousoudi)

The Monastery of the Three Hierarchs stands at an altitude of approximately 880 metres, near the summit of Kofinas, in an area known as Lousoudi, east of Kapetaniana. It was founded in the second half of the 14th century by the learned monk Joseph Philagris. The choice of this secluded location was no coincidence, as the Asterousia Mountains had already been an important centre of hermitic life since the Byzantine period.

Joseph Philagris was one of the most important intellectual figures of 14th-century Crete and a leading commentator on Aristotle at a time when the study of ancient Greek philosophy was often viewed with suspicion. At the monastery, he taught philosophy, grammar, astronomy, medicine and theology, while also establishing a manuscript copying workshop (scriptorium), where works by the Church Fathers and ancient Greek authors, with particular emphasis on Aristotle, were copied and preserved.

The existence of this organised centre of learning has led many researchers to describe the monastery as the first Greek "university", a pioneering academic centre in the Asterousia Mountains.