The Convent of St. Kendeus is located at the very green line. It is located north-east of the village of Avgora, on a small hill south of the old Nicosia-Famagustian road.
It is not known exactly when the monastery was built. Its oldest building is a small one -napal church with a size of 11x4 meters in the northern part of the monastery. Initially, the temple was decorated with painting, as evidenced by the remnants of frescoes on the southern wall. The images have been preserved poorly, except for the fresco of the Archangel Michael. It can be dated to the XV or XVI century. The Church itself was most likely built at the same time.
The monastery mentions Archimandrite Kiprian in his work at the end of 1788. In his time, two or three monks lived there. The monastery was never rich. When in 1773 the archbishop of Cyprus Khrisanf conducted an inventory of church property, it fell into the category of the poorest.
For a long time, the monastery was desolate: only the church and several dilapidated cells survived. However, in 1972, new premises were built here, where the nuns had engaged in, and since then the monastery became women's. When the Turkish invasion occurred in 1974, the military advised the nuns to leave the monastery, but they refused. Turkish troops approached the monastery itself, but did not advance further.
To the west of the monastery, a cave was preserved with a size of 4x2.5 meters. Locals call it the cave of St. Kendeus. Kendey or, in the Greek manner, Kendaas was one of the so-called Aleman saints-monks from Western Europe, who began their way in the Holy Land in the VIII century, but due to oppression by Muslims were forced to move to Cyprus. They scattered around the island and settled in its different parts. Kendei initially settled in pathos, but then moved to Avgorian, since not far from here, in the territory of ancient Salamin, his friend Jonah Pergamsky launched.
The monastery is open to visits daily from 09:00 to 17:00, on Sundays from 06:30 to 17:00.
On the map
The text is prepared based on the materials Famagusta News
