All about Zakynthos

A little below the church of the Holy Trinity, in the 16th century there was an island, which belonged to the Catholic Diocese. This islet, like the district of the Holy Trinity, hid unknown aspects of the ancient and medieval history of Djade, which unfortunately remained buried in the earth.

In 1506, the Catholic church (originally a chapel) of Our Lady of Graces (Santa Maria delle Grazie) was built on this islet. Remondini mentions that a fine monastery was founded next to the church in 1544 and then, by the monk Angelo Pugliese, the tomb of Cicero was discovered, for which the relevant literature is known. In the fall of 1564, according to various sources, the Belgian father of Anatomy, Andreas Vesal, was buried in the church. The traveler Giovani Zuallardo, who visited Zakynthos in 1586 reported seeing the tomb of Vesal, in the church of Our Lady of Graces. In addition, the Italian physician and philosopher Hieronymus de Croces and the French academic and Philhellenic traveler Augustinos Gys were buried here. This islet was later joined to the mainland, after continuous embankments. Next to the church of Panagia ton Harita, there was a tower-shaped bell tower, which had been built in 1568, which was destroyed, together with the church, in the earthquakes of 1893. The Panagia of the Graces was rebuilt, in 1904, according to a design by the Zakynthian architect Ioannis Mercatis. The famous old monastery was converted, during the British occupation, into a barracks, then into a hospital and, finally, into a Police building. During the Occupation, the temple was looted by Italians, Germans and locals. In the earthquakes of 1953, even the site of the ruins of the monastery and the church disappeared and with them many centuries of ancient local history.