The imposing Church of St Peter of the Dominicans, dedicated to Peter of Verona, is the sole surviving remnant of what was once a renowned monastery in Candia. Although the presence of the monastic community in Heraklion is attested as early as 1228, the complex itself appears to have been founded around 1248 and soon attained such prominence that, from the 14th century onwards, it hosted the provincial chapters of the Order. Various confraternities were housed within the monastery, maintaining chapels, tombs, treasuries and devotional shrines.

The present form of the church is the result of extensive restoration works carried out between 2007 and 2009. The 13th-century structure was originally a single-aisled timber-roofed basilica, with a rectangular presbytery covered by ribbed vaulting and a projecting transept flanked by two-storey chapels. The nave was widened after the earthquake of 1303, and over time the building underwent further alterations and additions of chapels. It possessed a rich sculptural decoration, fragments of which were uncovered during excavations, as well as wall paintings in a Byzantine style, now only sparsely preserved. Numerous burials were identified within the church, its chapels and the surrounding precinct, yielding a variety of finds, including a bronze medallion depicting Thomas Aquinas.