Murals from the 12th and 16th centuries are visible in Paphos’ oldest monastery, Panayia Chrysolakournas, Steni community leader Elias Lampides said on Saturday.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Lampides said the monastery, the seat of the Paphos bishopric in the Middle Ages, “is in a magnificent location, overlooking the bay of Polis Chrysochous and Cape Akamas.”
According to Cypriot folklorists and scholars, the name Chrysolakourna comes from the words gold (Chryso in Greek) and the Latin lacuna which means lake, spring, trough and probably refers to the Virgin Mary life-giving spring, he added.
During the Frankish rule, served as the seat of the Bishop of Paphos. Lampides added that the monastery was renovated by the then Bishop of Paphos Chrysostomos II on August 7, 1983.
When the Latins came to Cyprus they expelled the bishops from the urban centres, which were then seized by the Catholics. “As such, the head of the Paphos Bishopric moved to the Monastery of Panayia Chrysolakournas which was a rich monastery and had rich land, mills and wells,” Lampides said.
Today, the monastery buildings, which remained in ruins until 50 years ago, have completely disappeared. Only the church has lasted and that half-ruined until 1974.
In 1974-1975 the church was restored by the antiquities department as a three-aisled basilica, he added.
“The surviving parts of the church up to 1974 are from different periods and are the result of many interventions during the long life of the monastery.”
A mural of St John the Baptist preserved on the west wall of the church, which can be dated to the 12th century, traces the foundation of the monastery to the Middle Byzantine period, Lampides said.
He added that the monastery operated with monks from the 10th century until July 10, 1821, when it was abandoned after the hanging of Abbot Silvestros and its looting by the Turks.
He noted that the few monks who were there took the icons and dispersed.
From the surviving evidence, he said, it appears that the original church was radically restored in the 14th century and in the 16th century the church was either destroyed or extensively damaged and then rebuilt into its present form.
In addition to the mural of the Baptist on the west wall, 12th century crosses were discovered on the west wall after removal of the buttress.
On a part of the arch, pieces of Platytera between the Archangels are preserved. Lower down, large parts of the Communion of Apostles are preserved, and lower down, parts of high priests, of whom St Gregory the Theologian is best preserved. On the north wall, a large part of the mural of St George is preserved.
Most of the surviving murals date back to the first half of the 16th century, Lampides added.
The icon of Panayia Chrysolakournas, dating back to 1703, is located in the Yiolou community, while a copy of it can be found inside the church.
In 1952 when an earthquake hit Paphos, the roof of the church fell and after many efforts and with donations from villagers, the antiquities department proceeded to restore the church. In 1992 when there was another big earthquake in Paphos, the building was deemed dilapidated.
It was then, he added, that the Leventis Foundation subsidised the restoration project with €300,000 and the church was brought into its current state.
Lampides said the church was handed over to the community of Steni and is a popular place to visit by both locals and tourists.