2.5km east from the village of Kalo Nero, on the way towards Goudouras and at the point where the Pervolakia gorge ends, you will find the famous Kapsa Monastery.
The exact date of the foundation of Moni Kapsa or Moni Prodromou (John the Forerunner) is not known. On a small part of a fresco painting, the only to remain, is marked the year 1552 and then some other year numbers up to 1809.
Near Moni Kapsa, towards the west, there is another small Monastery, Moni “Kalou Nerou” where on the fresco paintings the year number 1461 is engraved.
These numbers indicate that both monasteries were founded around that time and that in those years monks were living there, since otherwise there would be no year marks engraved.
It is suspected that Moni Kapsa was founded shortly after 1453.
The monasteries of Moni Kapsa, Panaghias and Agioi Saranda were probably destroyed or abandoned in 1640, when the Turks conquered Crete.
The repairs and maintenance of the monastery churches were carried out at the expense of the property owners in the surrounding district to whom these small monasteries belonged.
The monastery consisted of a small church and two small old dwellings. There was also a small well with salty water in the back of the steep hill of the hamlet.
The monastery was given to Ioannis Vitsentzos (later named Yerondoyannis) in 1841 by Nikolaos Zafiris.
1799: Yerondoyannis is born in Moni Kapsa, where his parents had gone for a visit; they normally lived in the village of Lithines.
On the the night of the 2th to 3th April Ioannis Yerondakis fell into a deep sleep which lasted for 43 hours.
It was impossible for him to report all he had seen and heard during his sleep.
The dream: "I had half fallen asleep when I saw a man come and stop next to me. On his shoulders he was carrying a child. He tapped my thigh and my back as if he wanted to wake me up. I was frightened, because I was sure that the man in front of me was an angel. He asked me, "In what do you believe Ioannis?" I replied "I believe in God the Father, the Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Visible and Invisible". Then the angle ordered me to follow him. I was very sad, as i believed that I had died and part from my family forever. Against my will I left my body behind and followed him."
Yerondoyannis lived in a cave which was situated further away, where he performed also his religious duties.
The renovation work was interrupted in 1858 as a revolution had started and Yerondoyannis had to leave Crete to emigrate to the island of Kassos.
The renovation and and new construction of the monastery finished in 1863.
On the 6th August 1874 Yerondoyannis died at the age of sevently-five.
After Yerondoyannis' death the monks who had been living there left one by one.
Later a grandchild of Yerondoyannis, Yannis Yerondakis, came to Moni Kapsa.
Source: Yerondoyannis and Holy Monastery of Moni Kapsa by Nikolaos I. Papadakis
Edited by: Yallou