56. HIEREON KATHOLIKON (HAGIA MONE)

For map see entry on HGC site << Previous Entry Next Entry >>

On the southwest slopes of Mount Panagia (1144m a.s.l.) in western Troodos, 1.5 miles (2.5 km) south of the village of Panagia (Paphos district) and Chrysorogiatissa monastery [Papacostas (1999a) 6.B.I.23] at 870m a.s.l. A temple dedicated to Hera probably stood here in ancient times [Cypriot syllabic and Greek inscriptions: Hogarth (1889) 31-35; Michaelidou-Nicolaou (1976) 18; Mitford (1961) 105-7]. The recently reactivated monastery on the site was perhaps founded in Late Antiquity, although it is not securely attested before the 10th century [Papacostas (1999a) 6.B.I.36]. A cruciform vaulted structure was built north of the church in late medieval times (15th century?) [ARDA 1963, 10], while monastic buildings (17th century and later) were erected to the west of the church [Gunnis (1936) 367-68; Papageorgiou (1964) 280].

Description: A no longer surviving church, of unknown type, was built over a late antique basilica (?) perhaps incorporating its apse (traces were found east of the present apse). An apsidal narthex was partly excavated west of the naos.

Dating: A date in or before the 12th century (?) is suggested by the apsidal narthex [MKE 6, 79-80].

Later additions / alterations: The middle Byzantine church of unknown type was replaced by a late medieval (domed?) basilica which was rebuilt in 1638 and again in 1885 as a two-aisled vaulted basilica that still stands, incorporating the 16th-century (?) apse with synthronon, encased in the present straight east wall [MKE 6, 79-80; Papageorgiou (1996) 82].

Modern repairs: The 19th-century church was consolidated in the 1960s, the walled north door was reopened, the roof was tiled, the interior was plastered, and a new floor was provided. Excavation around the present church revealed an apsidal narthex, a crypt under the apse and a large semi-circular apse further to the east [ARDA 1964, 8; Papageorgiou (1965a) 96-97]. The monastic buildings were restored in 1963-66 [Papageorgiou (1968a) 230-31] and were rebuilt in the 1980s-90s.

Early literature: The monastery was described by Barskij in 1735, according to whom the church had three aisles [Stylianou (1957) 68-70 and Grishin (1996) 50-52]; Hogarth in 1888 mentions the recent discovery of inscriptions in Cypriot syllabic and Greek [Hogarth (1889) 31-35; see also Jeffery (1918) 391-92].

Views: Barskij made a drawing that has not survived [Stylianou (1957) 70, n.113 and Grishin (1996) 52, n.140].

Plan / section: Papageorgiou (1965a) 97 [the synthronon in the apse is not shown; the foundations of the narthex shown on the plan are not visible today].