Near the north coast, 3 miles (4.5 km) northeast of Akanthou (Famagusta district), on the site of a Hellenistic and late antique settlement (Pergamum) [Hadjisavvas (1991) 7-8].
Description: The domed pier cross-in-square with horse-shoe apse pierced by three windows with brick in their arches was built in ashlar, over an early Christian three-aisled basilica. The apse and bema preserve fragments of 11th and 12th-century fresco decoration [Papageorgiou (1985a) 328-29; Hadjisavvas (1991) 7-8; MKE 11, 266-67].
Dating: A 11th century date or at least terminus ante quem is suggested by the earliest layer of fresco decoration [MKE 11, 266-67].
Later additions / alterations: The lateral windows of the apse wall were blocked, a door was opened on the north façade (now walled), and a narthex was added.
Modern repairs: In the early 1970s the structure was repaired, the frescoes in the apse and the bema were cleaned, and the surrounding area was partly excavated revealing an early basilica [ARDA 1972, 13; AD 29 (1973/74) 1014].
Early literature: A ‘recently restored’ church was briefly described by Ross in 1845; Hogarth in 1888 speaks mostly of the surrounding ruins, Oberhummer dismisses the church as not particularly interesting (and says nothing of the frescoes), while Jeffery mentions the recent restoration of the frescoes in what he calls a ‘monastery’ [Ross (1852) 134; Hogarth (1889) 96-98; Bertele and Wacker (2004) 239; Jeffery (1918) 247; see also Gunnis (1936) 150].
Views: Hadjisavvas (1991) 7-8.
Plan / section: Department of Antiquities Archive C.18.425.