Church of Panagia Chrysopantanassa

The Church of Panagia Chrysopantanassa has been the ornament of the village for the last five centuries.

Its external aspect is fully traditional, since it is covered with local stone.  It has a wooden roof covered with tiles, following the French type. Internally, the church consists of three rooms and its eastern part leads to “a hemispherical internal arch”.

The church was probably built in the 16th century. A lot of alterations have taken place in the 19th and 20th century. The most recent encaenia of the church were held in 1875 according to an inscription on the north side of the church.

Numerous alterations, especially in the internal of the church took place in 1864, under the supervision of priest Ioannis. According to an inscription in the museum, the church was renovated in 1896 and in 1890 the roof was repaired. The renovations were continued until the beginning of the 20th century. For instance, the tiles were replaced.

In the years between 1993 and 1997, the church was restored and its murals were conserved. What is more, the roof tiles was replaced with tiles similar to the original ones.

Due to this restoration and renovation of the church as a whole, a great architectural monument is saved. A paradigm of art as far as murals and iconography is concerned.

The murals go back to the second half of the 16th century and are similar to those in the church of the Holy Cross in Askas. This indicates that the same person probably produced them. These murals are obviously affected by the western culture and the Byzantine world, especially the Paleologoi. Their peculiarities are bright colours, vivid forms, movement but at the same time still clothing. Some of the murals found deal with The birth of Mary, The healing of the blind Hebrews and The embracing of Faith and Love.    

The church has a magnificent iconostasis, which was according to is inscriptions created in the years between 1859 and 1860. Some years later, in 1864, the iconostasis was covered with gold. Some of the icons were created in the 17th century and some others in the 19th century. The iconostasis consists of three genres. The first one with Saint Mary, the second one with the cycle of the feasts of Orthodoxy and the third one with the Crucifixion.

In conclusion, the Church of Panagia Pantanassa is a paradigm of architecture and art and that is why it is regarded as a museum of the Cypriot cultural heritage.

Source:

Sophocleous Sophoclis, Ta Palaichioria, Heritage of centuries, 2002, p.77-127.