It was Easter 1826, when the Christian faithful were in the small church of Agios Minas and Hypapante – it was then the metropolis of Heraklion – attending the service, while a mob of Muslims had gathered outside and were preparing a massacre against them. Then an officer on horseback appeared before them and dissuaded them. The Muslims thought it was their henchman, Ayan Agas, but the Christians believed that St. Minas himself had appeared. Since then, St. Minas has been depicted as a Roman general on horseback and became the patron saint of the city of Heraklion.

Thus, the great homonymous church and metropolitan church of Heraklion, one of the most imposing in Greece, was dedicated to Saint Minas, which began to be built in 1862 next to the pre-existing church of Saint Minas and Ypapanti and was completed in 1895. Its architectural type combines features of a cruciform inscribed with a dome and a three-aisled basilica, while it has a gallery and two bell towers, 33m high.The monasteries of the region, hundreds of Christians and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Khan himself, who sent 40,000 groats, donated money for its construction.

Inside the church, the iconostasis and the bishop’s throne are made of white and green Tinian (from Tinos) marble, designed by the great architect and archaeologist Anastasios Orlandos. The church bears frescoes created by S. Kartakis in 1960. On the north side of the church there is another bomb that fell next to the church during the bombing of Heraklion by the Germans, but it did not explode, which was attributed to a miracle of Agios Minas.

The old or small church of Agios Minas and Hypapante is located southeast of the metropolitical cathedral.  It has two naves and its foundation dates back to the Venetian period. The church had been abandoned for a long time and was rebuilt in 1735. Inside it bears two gilded wooden carved chancel tables and important portable icons of the 18th and 19th centuries. Its history has been linked to the events of June 1821, when the Ottomans slaughtered Metropolitan Gerasimos Pardalis inside the church, as well as all those present, who were sanctified as new martyrs.