Religious tourism is booming in Cyprus because of these UNESCO-listed churches

Religion is a driving force of tourism in Cyprus. As one in every of the primary places Christianity spread outside of Judea, the island has an extended history with the Gospel.

Every yr, hundreds of pilgrims, each Orthodox Christians and other denominations, come to the island to go to its churches and monasteries – 10 of which, all within the Troodos area, have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1985.

Considered one of the oldest is the monastery of St John the Lampadistis, just outside the village of Kalopanagiotis within the Nicosia district.

Perched on a hillside on the eastern bank of the river Setracho, within the valley of Marathasa, the complex is now home to a few churches – Agios Ioannis Lampadistis, Agios Heraclidios and a Latin chapel.

United under a single picket roof, this complex was originally a monastery, and has undergone extensive reconstruction and restoration at different times.

Three churches under a single picket roof

“The monastery of St John Lampadistis is probably the most necessary places in Cyprus and is a spot stuffed with grace, history and culture,” Romanian-born Father Theodore Ivana, parish priest of the Kalopanayiotis community and guardian of the monastery, tells Euronews.

“The primary church, as we enter, is devoted to a 1st century Cypriot saint, Agios Heraklidios. He was a guide to the Apostles Paul, Barnabas and Mark in 45 AD and was baptised in the identical yr by the Apostles within the river Shetrachos, which runs through the village,” he explains.

Built initially of the eleventh century, the church is a Byzantine basilica with a dome, featuring frescoes preserved from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries.

“Also in the primary church we have now a [unique] iconostasis representing the traditional order of the Church before Iconoclasm. That is the oldest one which survives in Cyprus and dates back to the late thirteenth and early 14th century,” adds Father Theodore.

The center church is devoted to the local St John Lampadistis, who lived towards the tip of the eleventh century. The chapel was added towards the tip of the twelfth century.

“Unfortunately, no frescoes survive here, because in response to some reports, within the early 18th century the church was burnt down and the prevailing frescoes were probably destroyed at the moment,” says Father Theodore.

The third church within the complex, the Chapel of the Blessed Hymn, also generally known as the Latin Chapel, was added towards the tip of the fifteenth century, during Cyprus’ early Venetian period.

“Here we have now very nice frescoes from the early sixteenth century. We’ve got a special style, a special Italian-Byzantine mentality with Renaissance influences,” explains Father Theodore.

Cyprus’ churches draw visitors from world wide

Stuffed with grace, history and culture, the monastery of St John the Lampadistis is probably the most necessary places in Cyprus. The positioning houses holy relics, including the Holy Kara of St John Lampadistis, while the wall between the second and third churches has the saint’s tomb built into it.

“We do not know exactly when the monastery was built, probably within the years of the Ottoman occupation. But we do know that the last monk passed away towards the tip of the nineteenth century,” says Father Theodore.

Not home to an energetic monastery, the positioning now draws pilgrims paying homage to the tomb of the Saint and the holy relics, in addition to culture-seekers drawn by its UNESCO status.

“On this particular monastery we have now visitors not only from Cyprus but pilgrims from all Orthodox countries,” says Father Theodore. “We’ve got many visitors who come from all around the world, from Japan to Chile.”

Visits by foreign pilgrims as early because the sixteenth century

The monastery of St John Lampadistis was an attraction for foreigners as early because the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as is shown by the inscriptions on the partitions left by dozens of pilgrims from Asia Minor.

“These partitions functioned somewhat like a guestbook we could comment on. Because of this we have now information concerning the origins of the individuals who got here here at the moment,” Father Theodore says.

“We’ve got information, for instance, a few large group for that point: 29 individuals who were from Asia Minor, men, women and youngsters. Imagine we’re talking concerning the 1700s and 1800s, it was the trip of a lifetime they usually had to rearrange every part – a house to remain in, that they had to avoid wasting as much as have money with them for five to eight months.”

These were mostly Turkish-speaking crypto-Christians, the so-called ‘Karamanlides’, who tried to maintain their faith alive by speaking Turkish but writing in Greek. These people, as Father Theodore explains, had made it their life’s mission to make this journey to the center of Cyprus, which in some cases was the last one for some who never reached their destination or died on the best way back.

The monastery of St John Lampadistis also bears the seal of Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky, a scholarly traveller of the time who spoke eight languages.

“We’ve got beneficial information from Vasil Barsky not only concerning the monastery here but about all of the churches and monasteries of Cyprus. Because within the period of the Turkish occupation, the Church unfortunately didn’t manage to maintain much information,” Father Theodore says.

Finally, within the Latin church, there’s a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary which is taken into account a replica of the Virgin of Cyclades, where people come and leave vows, pray and ask for help to beat their problems.

Religious tourism has long been a key driver of Cyprus tourism but lately it has flourished even further, because of the close cooperation between the State Ministry of Tourism and the Holy Archdiocese.