The church of Saint Mary Magdalene, the so-called “sovereign church”, was built when the High Commissioner of Crete, Prince George offered in early 1901 ten thousand rubles and the plans for the construction of a church, in memory of the stay in Chania of his sister Mary, wife of the Grand Duke of Russia George.
The Commissioner deposited the money in the Bank of Crete and the plans, which had been drawn up in Russia, were handed over to the Director of Public Works, Panzeiris, for him to study. It is a peculiar architectural type of temple with a rectangular hall that ends in a decorative dome of Russian form and is surrounded by a perimeter gallery. Finally, it was decided that the new church, with a capacity of 80 people, should be erected opposite the Palace and an Orthodox priest should work in it. The supervision for the execution of the project and the landscaping of the surrounding area was undertaken by the architect Christos Tso On January 6, 1903 the inauguration was held in a very intimate circle in the presence of Queen Olga of Greece, the Metropolitan of Crete Eugene and Prince George, Prince Lebesis’ aide-de-camp and the special secretary Papadiamantopoulos and his wife.
After his departure from Crete in May 1909, the Prince offered the church to the Municipality of Chania and Chalepa, in memory of the days he spent in Crete and the love with which the community of Chalepa surrounded him.
