In the southeast foothills of the Troodos Mountains, less than 1 mile (1.5 km) southeast of Kellaki (Limassol district), near the (modern) monastery of Panagia Glossa at 700m a.s.l., overlooking the Limassol plain and Machairas Mountains. The settlements at Kellaki and Glossa are attested since the early 13th century and in later medieval times, respectively [Papacostas (1999a) 6.C.14; Mas Latrie (1852-61) 3.503; MKE 14, 251]. The church at Glossa was reported in the early 20th century as a ‘fine example of the Byzantine style’ and it was rebuilt soon thereafter [Jeffery (1918) 354; Gunnis (1936) 261].
Description: The now ruinous vaulted structure with semi-circular apse was built of local sideropetra rubble. The existence of a barrel vault is suggested by the heavy buttresses along the north and south walls, the surviving vault springing over the south wall, and the debris scattered around. The church was clearly neither domed nor timber roofed [in MKE 8, 351 it is said to be of unidentifiable type], although perhaps there was a protective timber roof over the vault, as at Amasgou, in view of the abundance of timber in the area. Faint traces of figural decoration survive on the south wall of the bema.
Dating: The surviving painted dado zig-zag pattern on the bema walls, which is similar to those at Panagia Kanakaria and at the Enkleistra, suggests a late 12th-century date [Megaw and Hawkins (1977) 153 and pl. 97; Mango and Hawkins (1966) pl. 60].
Modern repairs: The ruins were consolidated (in the early 1990s?).
Plan / section: Papacostas (1999a) vol. 3, fig. 55.