39. EUSTATHIUS, SAINT

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Located near the south coast in the well watered plain at the south edge of Kolossi (Limassol district), next to the 15th-century Hospitaller keep. The settlement of Kolossi is attested since the late 12th century [Papacostas (1999a) 6.C.18].

Description: The domed cruciform structure with semi-circular apse was built in rough ashlar, with slightly pointed vaults and a long west and a very short east cross arm. The fresco decoration is partly preserved in the dome (Pantokrator) and the pendentives.

Dating: The earliest layer of fresco decoration suggests a date or at least a terminus ante quem in the later 12th century [MKE 5, 215], also implied by the use of pointed vaults [a 10th-12th-century date is proposed in Soteriou (1931a) 485; for a 15th-century date see Gunnis (1936) 279].

Later additions / alterations: In the late 15th / early 16th century the church was decorated once more. The upper part of the west cross arm was rebuilt with its vault rising higher and abutting on the dome drum. In Ottoman times wide arches were opened in the north and south walls and compartments were added to the northwest and southwest, altering the south cross arm façade and creating three aisles in the west part [MKE 5, 215]. Buttresses were added to the northwest compartment.

Modern repairs: The frescoes in the vaults were consolidated [ARDA 1990, 26, 1991, 22].

Early literature: The church at Kolossi with a 15th-century capital reported in the late 19th century, as well as the church of Saint Anastasius mentioned by Jeffery, presumably refer both to Saint Eustathius [Enlart/Hunt (1987) 502; Jeffery (1918) 376].

Plan / section: Soteriou (1935) 43 [the south cross arm window, the niche to the left of the apse and the later north compartment buttresses are not shown on the plan, and the cavity in the dome is omitted in the section].