The Church of Christ Antiphonitis in Kalogrea is one of the most important Byzantine churches on the island, which ended up in the occupied territories after the events of 1974. It represents the main temple of the monastery, which was abolished several centuries ago.
Judging by the surviving temple, the monastery was founded at the end of the 12th century. Nothing remains of the original buildings except the ruins of buildings to the east and northeast of the temple.
The name of the temple – Antiphonitis – means “responsible”. This epithet is usually applied to Christ, so the full name of the church is: Church of Christ Antiphonitis (or the Responding One). But you can often come across the opinion that the monastery was consecrated in honor of the Archangel Michael. Therefore, there is an alternative version of the name - the Church of Archangel Antiphonitis.
Like many other churches of the Middle Byzantine period, this temple was built without a narthex (narthex). It was added in the XIV-XV centuries on the western side and combined with the main temple. Its construction was financed by the Lusignan royal family. At the end of the 15th – beginning of the 16th centuries, a colonnade was built on the southern side of the temple.
The plan of the church is an octagon. There are only four temples in Cyprus with an octagonal base, but only Antiphonitis is well preserved. The eight columns on which the dome rests are located at different distances from each other, so the plan of the temple is geometrically uneven. As a result, the dome also has an uneven shape.
The inside of the temple is painted with frescoes that date from the beginning of the 13th to the end of the 15th century. The original frescoes are preserved in the apse, the altar, on the eastern supports of the dome, in the drums above the north-eastern and south-eastern arches, on the southern wall.
During Turkish rule, the monastery changed owners several times. The Metropolis of Kerynia sold it to a private individual in 1828, a resident named Mariun Christodoulou Apeghitu. A certain monk bought the monastery from her, who in 1906 sold it to the Kykkos monastery. Only in 1932 the monastery again returned to the ownership of the Kerynia Metropolis. Since 1974 it has been in occupied territory.
On the map
The text was prepared based on materials from Polygnosi
This article was first published in the Cyprus Herald on August 10, 2024. Some information may be out of date.
