The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, through the Department of Antiquities, maintains a cooperative relationship with the Metropolises of Cyprus for the maintenance, protection and proper promotion of the country's ecclesiastical monuments, said today the competent Minister, Yannis Karousos, who assures that his Ministry will remain supportive during the restoration works of the Holy Church of St. Athanasios Pentashoinitos and will offer all possible assistance.
In his address at the opening ceremony of the maintenance project of the Holy Church of St. Athanasius Pentashoinitou, Mr. Karousos said that it is in the context of this cooperation and through a long process of negotiation that the Department of Antiquities approved the study, prepared by a private architect, for the maintenance, restoration and utilization of the church for the benefit - not only of the community of Agios Theodoros of Larnaca - but for all the faithful and the Church of Cyprus.
As he said "the processes for the restoration study of the monument were arduous, as the scientific problems that were raised were complex and difficult."
However, he noted, in close cooperation with the Bishop of Trimithounos and the private architect, it was possible to highlight a particularly important ecclesiastical monument of Cyprus. "With the completion of the restoration work, our country will add another monument to its rich cultural heritage."
In addition, he said that the cost of maintenance and excavation work amounted to 109 thousand euros and was covered in equal parts by the Department of Antiquities and the A.C. Leventis.
In addition, he said that a study was completed last week for the completion of the work, with the amount estimated at 390 thousand euros and will be covered by funds from the Department of Antiquities and the Ecclesiastical Commission.
About the church, Mr. Karousos said that the church was built in the late 8th or early 9th century AD in honor of Saint Athanasius, a local saint of the region of Pentashino with a pan-Cypriot radiance, who seems to have lived between 620 and 640 AD.
"The excavations," he noted, "conducted by the Department of Antiquities in 2004 and 2005, brought to light the ruins of the original three-aisled church and identified its different phases and showed that the monument was probably in use until the beginning of the 17th century."
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
