Description of the attraction
Not far from the so-called "green mile" - a conventional line dividing the capital of Cyprus Nicosia into the Greek and Turkish parts, there is the Faneromeni Church, which is considered one of the largest Christian churches of the entire island. Different sources name different dates for the construction of this church, but it is known that it appeared during the reign of the Lusignan dynasty in Cyprus.
The temple was part of a large convent named after Panagia Faneromeni. It is believed that a unique icon of the Mother of God was miraculously discovered at the site of its construction, which gave the name to the monastery and the church - in translation, the word "pheneromeni" means "revealed."
When Cyprus was captured by Turkish troops, they wanted to turn the Faneromeni monastery into a mosque, as happened with many Christian churches on the island. However, for some reason, all the imams of the new mosque died shortly after their appointment. It is because of this that, after some time, the Turks abandoned the idea of converting the monastery into a mosque and returned it to the Christian community.
Subsequently, the Faneromeni Church was almost completely rebuilt - almost nothing remained of the old building. Now this temple is considered one of the centers of Christianity on the island. The icon, which gave the name to the church and was once kept in it, was later transferred to the Byzantine Museum of Archbishop Makarios III. And in the temple at the moment there is a copy of it, written in 1924. Only for a few days, once a year, the original icon is returned back to the church for a liturgy in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos.
In addition, another attraction of this place is the carved iconostasis depicting scenes from the Old Testament, which was made back in 1659. And the walls of the temple are decorated with bright paintings.
Also near the church there is a small marble mausoleum where the remains of Christian priests and bishops killed by the Turks, including Archbishop Kyprianos, are buried.
