28. CHRYSALINIOTISSA, PANAGIA

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Within the walled city of Nicosia (Nicosia district) at 120m a.s.l., between the Flatro and Caraffa bastions of the Venetian fortifications.

Description: Originally probably a dome-hall structure which was subsequently much altered [MKE 14, 94; also said to have been a cruciform structure in Papageorgiou (1966a) 225, n.5]. The lower courses of the original round apse survive under the later polygonal upper part. The northeast corner of the original single-aisled building survives under the east wall of the later north chapel. The present (original?) dome on round arches built in alternating brick and stone is pierced by eight windows.

Dating: The date is difficult to establish, but it probably falls within the middle Byzantine period [Papageorgiou (1982b) 446; 10th-12th century in Soteriou (1931a) 484; mid-11th century in Procopiou (2006a) 384].

Later additions / alterations: First the north and south barrel vaulted chapels were added (and the walls separating them from the original core were pulled down), then a narthex, an exonarthex, and two vaulted chambers to the south were erected. Various parts (extensions, porticoes, annexes) were erected at different periods resulting in a complex plan.

Modern repairs: Minor repairs to the dome and masonry were carried out [ARDA 1987, 19].

Early literature: The church was listed among the Orthodox shrines of Ottoman Nicosia by Kyprianos [Kyprianos (1788) 394]. Jeffery reported an episcopal throne in the main apse, and a legend concerning the foundation under the 15th-century Queen Helena Palaiologina [Jeffery (1918) 95-97; see also Gunnis (1936) 64-67 on the church’s icon collection].

Plan / section: Soteriou (1935) 29 [although the main apse is shown as polygonal, its lower part (up to the window sill level) is semi-circular; the south chapel which is shown as contemporary with the core is in fact later].