Author: Christos

Located in the mountainous village of Galata, the Church of the Archangelos Michael, or Panagia Theotokos, is a timber-roofed chapel, painted in the post- Byzantine style of the early 16th century and one of four painted churches in the village.

Located in the centre of the mountainous village of Galata, the church of Agios (Saint) Sozomenos dates to the early 16th century and retains a complete series of frescoes in the post-Byzantine style. It is one of four painted churches in the village.

According to an inscription above the west entrance, the church was built and decorated in 1513, and 14 villagers undertook the financial responsibility of painting the church. The structure is aisle-less and timber-roofed, with the roof extending to form a portico in the shape of the Greek letter ‘pi’ (like a square ‘u’).

The church’s interior is covered with frescoes that are in generally good condition and are divided into two tiers. On the upper tier there are scenes from the Christological cycle, while on the lower tier the standing figures of saints are depicted under painted arches. In the apse of the bema, the Virgin Mary is shown between the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The wall paintings on the external side of the north wall include scenes from the Second Coming, the Root of Jesse and the eight Ecumenical Synods.

Located about 3km outside the mountainous village of Platanistasa, the 15th century church of Stavros tou Agiasmati is a UNESCO World Heritage site and retains the most complete cycles of mural paintings of the second half of the 15th century on the island.

Its name derives from the word ‘Agiasma’ (-atos) which in Greek means ‘sanctified water, spring or well near a church’. The church used to be a monastery church, but only traces of the cells of the monastic buildings remain to the south of the church.

The surviving structure is a single-aisled building with a steep-pitched timber roof covered with flat tiles that extends beyond the main structure to form a portico on all four sides – a feature that is unique in Cyprus. According to an inscription, the building was built with the donation of a priest named Petros Peratis and his wife Pepani, who are both depicted on a fresco offering a model of the church to Jesus with the mediation of the Virgin. Also noteworthy is the extensive and multi-person Last Judgment scene, which unfolds up to the far end of the gable where Jesus Christ is depicted.

Whilst the year of the church’s erection is not known, it is generally accepted that its decoration was completed in 1494.

The Church of the Holy Cross of Agiasmati in Platanistasa – Audio Guide

Located in the mountainous region of Moutoulla, the tiny 13th century chapel of Panagia tou Moutoulla is one of the earliest examples of its type and is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The church has a steep-pitched timber roof and frescoes dating to 1280. The narthex was added at a later stage, after the beginning of the 16th century, and extends to the west and north sides of the church. The timber roof also covers the narthex. The wall paintings are the only series of the thirteenth century (1280) that survive in Cyprus and can be dated with precision.

The church was built and decorated through the donations of Ioannis of Moutoullas and his wife Irene, who are both depicted holding a model of the church. It is believed that it may have been a private chapel.

The village itself has an ongoing tradition for carved wooden basins.

The Church of Panagia tou Moutoulla – Audio Guide 

Located in the mountainous area of Pitsilia, between the villages of Lagoudera and Saranti, the 12th century church of Panagia tou Araka is a listed UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered to be of the most important Byzantine period churches on the island.

The church used to be a monastery church, built during the second half of the 12th century, when monastic life was flourishing in Cyprus. It survived until the first decades of the 19th century and its remains include a two-storey monastery building to the north, along with the church.

The church is a single-aisled domed structure with a cross-shaped, steep-pitched roof that extends to form a latticed-woodwork portico. During the 18th century, the west wall was demolished and the church was extended.

The frescos inside the church are comparable to those prevailing throughout Greece, the Balkans and Russia, and were painted by the artist Theodoros Apsevdis in the late Comnenian style (1192). Those in the apse of the bema are of a different style to those in the rest of the church, and it is believed that they were painted by another artist before 1192.

Panagia tou Araka – Audio Guide 

Located in the Solea Valley, in the village of Kourdali, the church of Panagia Chrysokourdaliotissa was built in the 16th century as a monastery church dedicated to Panagia (the Virgin Mary), and according to the foundation stone, was established by deacon Leone Kourdalis.

The preserved church is three-aisled, with a steep-pitched roof and flat roof tiles. The aisles of the church are divided from the nave by wooden arcades. The church contains wall paintings and icons of the 16th century in the Italo-Byzantine style, and the iconostasis is a fine example of wood sculpture of the 16th -17th centuries.

In 2006, the Holy Synod decided to re-establish the Monastery.