97. PROCOPIUS, SAINT

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In the eastern part of the Mesaoria plain, south of Synkrase (Famagusta district) [Papacostas (1999a) 6.C.103]. The cult of Procopius (of Scythopolis) on Cyprus is attested in the (13th century?) typikon of Koutsobendes [Papacostas (1999a) 6.B.I.45] where part of his relic is said to have been placed beneath the altar when the church of that monastery was founded in December 1090 [Dmitrievskij (1917) 121; on a Procopius relic fragment kept at Kykko, see Meinardus (1970) 39].

Description: The domed pier cross-in-square structure with semi-circular arches and vaults was built in ashlar over a late antique basilica incorporating its mid-6th century opus sectile floor, the synthronon, and possibly its apse too [Hadjisavvas (1991) 94; Chatzechristophe (1997); MKE 12, 39]. Among the traces of fresco decoration there is a 10th-century painted inscription in the soffit of the southwest arch that clearly belongs to the medieval phase [Papacostas (1999a) 6.F], and must be related to a burial underneath, at the foot of the southwest pier, that disturbed the 6th-century opus sectile floor [the burial took place after the abandonment of the basilica, according to Chatzechristophe (1997) 280].

Dating: A late 10th century terminus ante quem is provided by the inscription [10th-12th century in Soteriou (1931a) 484].

Later additions / alterations: Large doors and windows were opened later, and a bell tower was added over the northeast corner.

Modern repairs: In the mid-1950s the structure was repaired, the later north porch was removed, the west door was restored to its original size and the late antique opus sectile floor was revealed in the bema [ARDA 1954, 12, 1955, 12].

Early literature: Ross in 1845 reports that according to the pirest of nearby Trikomo, there was a Latin inscription in a church at Synkrase, perhaps referring to one of two Greek inscriptions (ancient carved and medieval painted) still surviving in Saint Procopius. Duthoit in 1865 merely notes that the church was whitewashed. Gunnis reports a loose Byzantine inscription (presumably referring to an ancient finely carved unpublished inscription outside the church), Corinthian capitals and a coloured marble floor in the apse [Ross (1852) 137; Bonato (2001) 234; see also Jeffery (1918) 241 and Gunnis (1936) 434-35].

Plan: Chatzechristophe (1997) 279 [no indication of the vaulting system].

Views: Soteriou (1935) pl. 39a [before the restoration]; Hadjisavvas (1991) 94.