Nine minority religious monuments restored in occupied Cyprus, Armenian monastery next

Ktoris said six Maronite monuments, one Armenian monument and two Latin monuments had so far been conserved or restored in the occupied areas.

The Maronite monuments are the Church of St Anne in medieval Famagusta, the Church of Saints Marina and Theodore in Kormakitis, the Church of St Marina in Ayia Marina Skyllouras, the Church of the Holy Cross in Karpasia, the Church of Archangel Michael in Asomatos and the Church of St George in Kormakitis.

The Armenian church in medieval Famagusta has also been restored, along with two Latin monuments in the city: the Church of St George of the Latins and the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Ktoris added that conservation work on the Armenian Monastery at Halevga was also being planned.

Armenian religious monuments

Marangou said Armenians had lived in Cyprus since the eighth century AD, following the transfer of populations from Cilicia by the Byzantines.

Those who arrived in Cyprus settled in different parts of the island, mainly along the southern slopes of the Pentadaktylos mountain range, she said.

The Armenians were highly skilled craftsmen with extensive knowledge of fortification construction, she added, noting the strong influence of Armenian castles on Cypriot fortresses such as Kantara and Kyrenia castles.

During the medieval period, Cyprus’s Armenian community acquired a monastery at Halevga in the Pentadaktylos mountains. It had been built by Coptic monks around AD 1000 in honour of St Macarius the Hermit of Alexandria.

Known as the Armenian Monastery, it belongs to the Armenian Church and has a long history and considerable property holdings. Its golden age came during the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was also called the “Blue Monastery” because of the colour of its doors and windows.

It also held a decree from the Ottoman sultan exempting it from taxation, Marangou said.

The monastery remained an important part of Cypriot history until the early 20th century and received support from prominent Armenian families in Nicosia and Famagusta.

“An entire community developed there, with many Armenian residents of Nicosia taking part, particularly during the summer holidays,” she said.

Marangou, who carried out a historical study of the monastery with Alexandros Hadjilyra, said “the time has come for its conservation to begin” through the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage.

Another important Armenian religious monument is the Church of Our Lady of Tyre in Nicosia’s Armenian quarter, near Paphos Gate.

Marangou said the church originally belonged to Benedictine nuns who had arrived from Tyre carrying an icon of the Virgin Mary believed to have miraculous powers. They built the large monastery, which still exists but is now in very poor condition.

The Ottomans later granted the church to the Armenians because of the support they had given Ottoman forces during the capture of Nicosia in 1570, she said.

The church received a Europa Nostra award for its restoration and is used once a year by the Armenian community, which provided much of the funding for the work.

The Armenian community in Famagusta had three churches, Marangou said.

One that survives is the Church of Panagia Ganchvor, also known as Panagia Kalousa. It was built in the 14th century by Armenian refugees from Cilicia who fled to Cyprus to escape Mamluk attacks.

The church is “literally a masterpiece”, she said. It is decorated with frescoes and was formally handed to the Armenian community by the British colonial administration.

Maronite religious monuments

Marangou said Cyprus’s Maronite community descended from the Mardaites, whom Byzantine emperor Justinian transferred from Lebanon to Antalya.

During the Arab raids, which lasted from the seventh to the 10th centuries AD, several Mardaites moved to Cyprus to reinforce the island’s defences against Arab attacks.

This marked the beginning of the Maronite presence in the Kormakitis area and along the southern slopes of the Pentadaktylos mountains, she said.

One of the most important Maronite religious monuments in the occupied areas is the Monastery of Prophet Elias in Ayia Marina Skyllouras.

Built in the 16th century, it developed gradually and served as a beacon of Maronite religion and culture for almost two centuries.

The monastery is now “unfortunately in a very poor condition”, Marangou said, although she stressed that efforts to conserve it would be “well worth undertaking”.

Kormakitis is home to the large Church of St George, which was built in the 20th century.

Construction took almost 33 years and involved Maltese craftsmen, giving it some resemblance to the well-known Co-Cathedral of St John in Valletta, Marangou said.

It was built over an earlier church also dedicated to St George, beside a small convent.

Near the Church of St George are the ruins of the Church of St Theodore, which probably dates from the 13th or 14th century.

The Church of St George of the Sowing is located on the Kormakitis coast and celebrates its feast at the beginning of the sowing season.

Marangou also referred to the Church of St Anne in Famagusta, which was granted to the Maronites and where a service was held after the crossing points opened.

Latin religious monuments

Turning to Latin religious monuments, Marangou said the Church of the Holy Cross near Paphos Gate had been built over an earlier 16th-century church.

“When a church is destroyed, or when the population of a religious denomination increases and needs a larger church, a new one is built over the older church so that it may receive the sacred essence of the previous building,” she said.

She also referred to the Gothic churches of St Sophia in Nicosia and St Nicholas in Famagusta, which were converted into mosques by the Ottomans after they conquered Cyprus in 1570 and 1571.

Marangou said she believed both “should have been UNESCO monuments”.

St Sophia was “one of the most important monuments in the eastern Mediterranean”, she said, adding that it had undergone “remarkable conservation work by Turkey” in recent years.

Marangou also referred to records of churches built in Famagusta by the Franks and Latins who came to Cyprus after losing Jerusalem.

The city had churches belonging to different Christian denominations and orders, including Nestorians, Jacobites and Carmelites.

She described them as buildings of “extraordinary artistry”, adding that a large number had survived.

Marangou described the Nestorian Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Famagusta as “a leading monument of the 14th century”.

The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also in Famagusta, “is an example of how the Orthodox and Latin Churches existed alongside one another”, she said.

Medieval Famagusta reflected a multicultural society made up of Orthodox residents, Franks, Armenians, Maronites and refugees who arrived from Syria and Lesser Armenia, or Cilicia, she added.

“Famagusta may not have 365 churches, as tradition claims, but we can certainly count 30 extremely important churches within the medieval city,” she said.

Marangou added that the medieval cities of Nicosia and Famagusta “should have been UNESCO monuments”.