of Megalou Agrou in the present day village of Agros, and of Panagia Amasgou in Monagri. From the years of Frankish rule (1191-1489) and those of the Venetian occupation, the Monasteries of Agios Prodromos in Mesa Potamos and of Panagia Amirou in the village of Apsiou have been preserved. During the Ottoman rule of the island new monasteries continued to be founded, such as the exceptionally well-preserved Monastery of Archangelos Michail in Monagri village. Some of the monasteries that were founded during the Ottoman period are still functioning today. Brotherhoods of monks still exist at the Monastery of Agios Georgios Alamanos in Lemesos District (the Fig. 251. Monastery of Archangelos Michail, Monagri. epithet Alamanos is used for many of Cyprus’ saints and apparently the saints that bear it were hermits that fled to Cyprus following Palestine’s conquest by the Arabs), the Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi tou Glossa in Kellaki and the Monastery of Panagia Sfalaggiotissa in Agios Athanasios in the Lemesos District.
Figs 252, 253. Monastery of Agios Georgios Alamanos.
Fig. 254. Cave of the Venerable Gerasimos Germanou, Agios Georgios of Alamanos.
E Tala (Monastery and Hermitage of Agios Neofytos) – Panagia (Monastery of Panagia Chrysorrogiatissa) – Statos (Monastery of Agios Nikolaos or Monastery ton Ieron or Agia Monastery) – Kouklia (Hermitage of Palaia Egleistra) – Pano Archimandrita (Hermitage of Agion Pateron).
In Pafos District there are important monasteries and hermitages, the most famous of all being the Monastery and Hermitage of Agios Neofytos. In an idyllic landscape to the north of Pafos lies the Monastery of Agios Neofytos, built next to the famous hermitage Figs 256, 257. carved by the Monastery of Agios Neofytos. Cypriot ascetic Saint Neofytos in the 12th century where he lived throughout his life as a hermit. His hermitage, composed of the main church, the Holy of Holies and the cell of the saint, together with his tomb, is decorated with superb 12th-century wall-paintings. Some of these, mainly in his cell, were painted in 1183 Fig. 258. Wall-painting, A.D., by the painter from Constantinople, detail. Hermitage of Agios Neofytos. Fig. 259. Skull of Saint Theodoros Apsevdis. The church of the Neofytos. Monastery of Agios Neofytos, built in the 16th century at a short distance to the south of the Hermitage, is adorned with very beautiful wall-paintings of the first half of the 16th century A.D. In the monastery there is a small, attractive ecclesiastical museum with exhibits and icons from the monastery itself. Near to the village of Panagia lies the second great monastery of Pafos, that of Panagia Chrysorrogiatissa, also tracing its foundation to the 12th century. The entire building complex of the monastery together with the church is quite well preserved and dates to the years of Turkish rule. The church has a small museum with artefacts and icons from the treasury of the monastery. Two kilometres further south of the Monastery of Panagia Chrysorrogiatissa one may find the Monastery of Agios Nikolaos or as it is otherwise known, the Monastery ton Iereon or the Agia Monastery. It is an old monastery already in existence in the 10th century, since Saint Athanasios the Athonite stayed there for a short while before leaving for Mount Athos to found the first of the latter’s monasteries, that of Megistis Lavra. The Monastery ton Ieron is one of the oldest monasteries in Cyprus, and there is the tradition that it was from here that Saint Nikolaos set out.
85 kilometres
Fig. 255
126
127
Fig. 260. Monastery of Panagia Chrysorrogiatissa.