Restoration of ‘emblematic’ Lysi church complete

Restoration works at the Panayia church in the Famagusta district village of Lysi have been completed, bicommunal technical committee on cultural heritage chairman Sotos Ktoris said on Friday.

He described the church as “one of the most emblematic monuments of Cyprus’ modern cultural heritage”, and said its original construction was “the result of the joint effort of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot architects, engineers, and conservators”.

“The church, the work of the distinguished master builder Iacovos Pavlou, was completed at the end of the 19th century and is a masterpiece of Cypriot church-building art. [Pavlou], combining the folk stone-building tradition with elements of neo-Gothic architecture, created a monument of unique aesthetic and technical perfection,” he said.

He added that the church is “a testament to the craftsmanship of Cypriot craftsmen in an era without mechanical means”.

The restoration project, he said, was “made possible thanks to the decisive contribution” of Greek Cypriots who were displaced from Lysi in 1974, as well as assistance from the European Union and “technical guidance” from the United Nations development programme (UNDP).

Lysi was historically a majority Greek Cypriot village with a very small Turkish Cypriot population, which fell to zero by the time Cyprus was given its independence in 1960.

After Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974, its inhabitants were displaced, and it was repopulated by Turkish Cypriots displaced from the Paphos district village of Stavrokkonou and others who were removed from Louroujina, the north’s southernmost village, in 1976.