Dikti, at an altitude of 650 m and a location that is approximately 50 km east of Heraklion, next to the road to Lasithi Plateau.

However, references to it are made in manuscripts dating from the early fourteenth century.

That icon was transferred to Rome by a wine merchant in 1498, where it is now permanently enshrined in the Church of St. Alphonsus near the Esquiline Hill.

During the Ottoman occupation of Crete, the monastery often served as a local revolutionary center and suffered several retaliatory attacks as a result.

The main church (katholikon) was originally built as an arch-covered single space structure and was later expanded with two narthexes and a smaller chapel.