85. MENAS, SAINT

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In the Akamas peninsula, 1.2 miles (2 km) west of Neochorio (Paphos district), at 250m a.s.l. next to a spring, overlooking the bay of Chrysochou.

Description: The original single-aisled vaulted structure was built in rubble masonry. Only its south and north walls survive, the latter with a horse-shoe relieving arch over the door).

Dating: A likely middle Byzantine date is suggested by the fresco decoration [MKE 11, 170].

Later additions / alterations: The superstructure was rebuilt with a pointed vault. There are several layers of damaged decoration, the latest of the 16th century The apse was rebuilt in the 1940s [MKE 10, 58-59].

Modern repairs: A restoration was undertaken in the 1980s: the vault was repaired, a new floor was installed, the frescoes were cleaned, and the collapsed west extension was rebuilt [ARDA 1986, 25, 1987, 28, 1988, 28, 1989, 33].

Early literature: The structure is probably to be identified with the chapel of ‘Saint Mamas’ with fragmentary frescoes next to the spring of Saint Menas, which is mentioned in the early 20th century [Peristianes (1910) 427]. Gunnis mentions the ruins of a medieval village nearby [Gunnis (1936) 353].