In 1669, from the very beginning of the Ottoman period, the church became a dependency of the Mt. Sinai monastery. The authorities of the time ceded it to the order of Sinaite monks in exchange for the Monastery of St. Catherine, which had been converted into a mosque. The church thus served as a refuge for Christians throughout the period. The churchyard contains the graves of prominent Cretans killed during rebellions against the Ottomans and in the massacre of 25^th August 1898, such as Lyssimachos Kalokairinos, British Consul at the time.