Newsroom / CNA
The architectural footprint of historical religious minorities in Cyprus is receiving targeted preservation through recent conservation projects across the northern part of the island. According to updates from the Bi-communal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, structural interventions have successfully concluded on nine historical sites belonging to the Maronite, Armenian, and Latin communities. The completed portfolio involves six Maronite structures, one Armenian church, and two Latin monuments. Efforts are now shifting toward the upcoming restoration of the remote Sourp Magar Armenian monastery located in the Pentadaktylos mountain range.
Sotos Ktoris, the co-chair of the bi-communal heritage committee, confirmed the completion of work on several distinct landmarks, particularly within the medieval walled city of Famagusta. For the Maronite community, the completed sites include the Church of Saint Anna in Famagusta, the Church of Saints Marina and Theodore in Kormakitis, the Church of Saint Marina in Agia Marina Skyllouras, the Church of the Holy Cross in Karpaseia, the Church of Archangel Michael in Asomatos, and the Church of Saint George in Kormakitis. Armenian and Latin preservation milestones include the Armenian church in medieval Famagusta, along with two Latin sites in the same city: the Church of Saint George of the Latins and the Church of St. Mary of the Carmelites.
Historian Anna Marangou provided historical context for these locations, pointing out that the Armenian presence on the island dates back to population movements from Cilicia by the Byzantine Empire during the eighth century. Many families eventually settled along the southern slopes of the Pentadaktylos range. Known historically for their advanced structural craftsmanship, Armenian builders influenced regional defensive architecture, including the medieval castles of Kyrenia and Kantara. Around 1000 AD, the community assumed control of a monastery in Chalevga originally established by Coptic monks. This site, Sourp Magar, became a major cultural hub that thrived through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, earning the local moniker "Blue Monastery" due to its distinct painted woodwork.
Though currently in a state of severe disrepair, the site is slated for imminent structural stabilization by the technical committee. Marangou also pointed out other vital Armenian landmarks, such as the fourteenth-century Church of Sourp Asdvadzadzin in Famagusta, built by refugees fleeing Mamluk raids, and the Church of Our Lady of Tyre in Nicosia. The Nicosia church, originally a Benedictine convent, was transferred to the Armenian community during the Ottoman era and recently earned a Europa Nostra conservation award.
The Maronite community traces its island ancestry to the Maradaites, who migrated to Cyprus between the seventh and tenth centuries to aid defenses against Arab naval raids. This migration established a permanent footprint in the Kormakitis area. Key Maronite structures include the sixteenth-century Monastery of Prophet Elias in Agia Marina Skyllouras, which currently requires urgent stabilization. In Kormakitis, the prominent twentieth-century Church of Saint George stands out for its architectural scale, having taken more than three decades to complete with assistance from Maltese builders.
Addressing the Latin monuments, Marangou explained that many existing structures were physically built directly on top of older foundations. This architectural practice was traditionally chosen so a new, larger building could inherit the spiritual continuity and blessing of the original shrine. Major Latin landmarks include the grand Gothic structures of Saint Sophia in Nicosia and Saint Nicholas in Famagusta, both repurposed as mosques during the sixteenth century. Marangou noted that medieval Famagusta functioned as a remarkably diverse urban hub where Orthodox residents lived alongside Frankish, Armenian, and Maronite communities. While local folklore attributes 365 churches to medieval Famagusta, historians have documented roughly 30 highly significant ecclesiastical structures inside the ancient city walls.
