86. NAPA, SAINT

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Near the south coast, 1 mile (1.5 km) north of Kandou (Limassol district) on the west bank of the Koures.

Description: The elongated dome-hall structure was built of very rough ashlar and rubble masonry. It probably incorporates the north and south walls of an earlier church, bonding with the surviving lower courses of a larger apse surrounding the present apse but not with the west and east façades. The thickness of these north and south walls was doubled leaving two internal arched recesses in the middle of each wall, under the dome. The arches and vaults are semi-circular but irregular. The tall semi-circular apse houses a Roman cippus used as an altar table. Fresco decoration is preserved in the west part, the dome, the north recess and the apse [more frescoes were preserved in the early 20th century: Gunnis (1936) 251-52]. It is unclear if the ruined walls west of the church, belonging to the earlier phase, were ever part of a narthex.

Dating: A likely 11th / 12th century date may be proposed on account of the architecture and decoration [MKE 10, 187-88]; a 10th-century date has been suggested by Procopiou [Procopiou (2006a) 336].

Later additions / alterations: The south doorway was opened at a later date. In the 14th century the interior received more fresco decoration.

Modern repairs: The walls and vaults were repaired in the mid-1970s [ARDA 1975, 15].

Views: ARDA 1975, figs. 19-20 [before and after minor repairs].

Plan / section: Papacostas (1999a) vol. 3, fig. 191; Procopiou (2006a) 338-342.