Panagia Faneromeni (Virgin Mary Revealed) Church was initially built in the 14th century, is associated with numerous legends and traditions. It is a three-aisled church with an arched roof, built during three different time periods, located near the Heroes’ Monument (Heroon) and the Old Primary School. Within the church there is an Ecclesiastical Museum, where icons from various Archanes churches are on display (the oldest ones date to the 16th century and the most recent ones are from the 20th century) along with church heirlooms (Father Paul’s Phelonion [similar to the Western church chasuble], which was embroidered by the priest’s wife and founder of the church, Maria Archogaropoulou), gospels, silver chalices, silver-plated trays, etc), as well as mementos from the 1897 revolution, the most impressive of which is Napoleon’s telescope. It was given as a gift by Napoleon to the owner of the house, Chlapoutis, who put the French leader up for a night at Ierapetra, when the latter stopped over on his way to Egypt. In 1897 the telescope was handed over to the Revolutionary Committee of Archanes to serve the purposes of the struggle and ended up in the museum of Panagia Faneromeni.
In the churchyard, which was used as the cemetery of Archanes until 1902, there is the chapel of Agios Antonios (St. Anthony), the impressive bell tower of Faneromeni with decorative reliefs – built in 1857- and the clock, which was made in 1930 and was presented as a gift by the Archanian Women of New York and Boston.
