Author: cconstantinou

Terra Santa is the church of the Latin community of Larnaka (Larnaca) and is also known as Santa Maria delle Grazie. The architectural style of the convent combines impressive Renaissance and Baroque characteristics.

Franciscan monk Callixte Martel founded the church and the convent in 1596, mainly to house Latin pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. In 1724, a larger church and convent replaced the original buildings, which in turn were demolished in 1842 to be replaced by the present church structures.

The Catholic nuns of Italian origin at the convent have a long tradition of philanthropic services to the community of the town. They currently run an old people’s home on the church grounds.

Perched on a rocky peak, 750 metres above sea level, legend tells that Stavrovouni Monastery was founded in the 4th century by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, who left a relic of the Holy Cross at the monastery.

The monks have strict rules akin to those at Mount Athos in Greece. Women are not permitted to enter the monastery, nor is the use of camera or video permitted. Men visiting must be appropriately dressed.

In contrast, the monastery of Agia Varvara on the foothills of Stavrovouni is accessible to all visitors, and the monks here are known for their iconography skills.

An impressive annual ceremony and festival is held at Stavrovouni Monastery on September 14 to mark the day of the Raising of the Holy Cross.

Considered to be one of the most interesting surviving structures from the Frankish Period on the island, the Royal Chapel was built in 1421 by the Lusignan King Janus.

The building is a small, single-aisled vaulted structure without an apse. In the past a portico enclosed the chapel on all sides (except for the east side). Up to the end of the 19th century, the ruins of a manor house or a monastery attached to the chapel were visible. Today only traces of these survive.

The chapel was originally entirely painted, but many of the paintings were destroyed during the course of time. On the eastern façade, King Janus is depicted in a wall painting, along with his second wife, Charlotte de Bourbon. The couple are kneeling in front of the Crucifixion cross, whilst another figure kneeling by the feet of Jesus at the scene of the Entombment is believed to be Hugh Lusignan, brother of Janus and Latin Bishop of Nicosia (Lefkosia).

Included in the mural decoration of the chapel is a series of coats-of-arms of the Medieval Kingdom of Cyprus, as well as graffiti carved into the frescoed walls. The graffiti belongs to various pilgrims and travellers, and the dates carved with them fall within the period between the 15th and the 16th centuries.

Located at the end of the Foinikoudes promenade, the Medieval Castle of Larnaka (Larnaca) (also referred to as Larnaka Fort) is believed to have been originally built during the Middle Ages, and took its present form during the Ottoman rule, although there is some contestation of its origins.

Chronographer Florius Boustronius dates it to the years of Lusignan King James I (1382 – 1398 AD), who built it to protect the harbour of the town. During the same time, the Genovese occupied Famagusta (Ammochostos) and the Lusignans had to develop another major port for the needs of their kingdom. Sources from the 18th century insist that the castle was built by the Turks in 1625 AD, even though a Turkish garrison was stationed there since 1570 AD. Other references by travellers confirm that the castle was constructed before 1625.

After the end of the Ottoman era in Cyprus, the British converted it into a prison and it was used during the first years of their rule. The western chamber of the ground floor in the east was used for the execution of prisoners. The gallows – which must had been constructed in the room – were in use until 1948.

Today, the castle houses the small Larnaka Medieval Museum across three rooms, and exhibits artefacts from the Early Christian period (4th-7th centuries) to the Ottoman period (18th-19th century).

The architectural ruins of the ancient city-kingdom of Kition provide the first clear evidence that the Mycenaean Achaeans arrived in Larnaka (Larnaca) in the 13th century BC and stayed until the end of the 11th century BC. The Phoenicians inhabited the city in the 9th century BC.

Around the end of the 13th century, Mycenaean Achaeans fortified the city with cyclopean walls made of giant blocks of limestone. Later on, the Phoenicians settled in the area in the 9th century, and built the temple of Astarte, Goddess of Fertility, related with the worship of Goddess Aphrodite. In 312BC, Kition was originally occupied and then destroyed by Ptolemy 1st Soter (the Egyptian Pharaoh). In spite of this, habitation continued into Christian times.

Kition was well known for its harbour in antiquity, from which many agricultural products were exported to the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and the Aegean. Moreover, its strategic position rendered it an exceptional naval base. Of particular interest at the ancient port are the drawings of ships etched into the walls of buildings.

The most interesting architectural remains are those of the Temple of Aphrodite-Astarte, built by the same Phoenician masons that built the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, both originating in the 9th century BC.

Egyptian-style temples of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty – which are older than their Greek equivalents and served the pre-Hellenic Cypriot population – have also been found nearby.

The site is one of the first that the Cyprus Department of Antiquities excavated, after the island gained its independence from British Rule in the early 1960’s, and is linked to the Aphrodite Cultural Route.

The Neolithic Age settlement of Tenta is situated a short distance from Kalavasos village and dates to 7000 BC. It is one of the most significant Neolithic settlements on the island, and is covered by a characteristic cone-shaped roof, which forms a contemporary architectural intervention in the landscape.

According to local tradition, the name of the site goes back to 327 AD when St. Helen – the mother of Constantine the Great – stayed in a tent (‘tenta’) in this location during her visit to the island following the discovery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.

The monument is located on the west bank of the Salt Lake and was erected over different phases, commencing from 1760 and completed in 1817. It is an important Islamic monument, one of the most revered sites in the Muslim world and it is used to this day for religious purposes. The mosque was built over the grave of Umm Haram or Ummü Haram, who was believed to be the sister of the Prophet Mohammed’s foster mother or a follower from Medina to Cyprus. Umm Haram arrived on the island either in 647 or 649, during the Arab raids led by the Arab Governor of Syria, Moawiya, in an effort to expand the Muslim empire in the Mediterranean Sea. However Umm Haram died shortly after her arrival and buried in the same place where she had fallen off her mule and died. Conservation works, aiming at preserving the monument, are being conducted by the Department of Antiquities on a systematic basis since 1967, involving the masonry, the wooden or other artistic elements.

Hala Sultan Tekke Larnaka – Audio Guide 

The archaeological site of Choirokoitia is a remarkably well-preserved settlement from the Neolithic Age that has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

Remains from all phases of the Neolithic Age are evident in the settlement, and provide an insight of living conditions in the region during prehistoric times, as well as how the Neolithic culture was spread throughout the region.

Five characteristic cylindrical shaped dwellings have been reconstructed near the settlement, using the same construction methods and materials used in Neolithic times. The dwellings are fitted with replicas of household objects found inside the original dwellings, thus providing a vivid representation of how they actually were in the past. The vegetation around the dwellings consists of native plants and trees that have grown in Cyprus since Neolithic times.

Choirokoitia Neolithic Settlement – Audio Guide 

The Kebir (Buyuk) mosque is possibly the first Ottoman mosque in Cyprus, and was originally a Catholic church dedicated to St. Catherine in the 13th – 14th century, before its conversion.

The oldest reference of its existence is found in a 1747 document of Bekir Pasha, creator of the Larnaka (Larnaca) aqueduct. The document specifies that a public fountain at the mosque should receive water from his aqueduct, and this public fountain still exists outside the mosque today.