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- Ελληνικά
The Department of Antiquities, Deputy Ministry of Culture, announces the end of the first excavation period of the project "Panagia Karmiotissa". The excavations were conducted in the area surrounding the church of Panagia Karmiotissa in Kato Polemidia under the direction of Dr. Andreas Nikolaidis and Dr. Margot Hoffelt.
This project is part of a research programme of a close collaboration between the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence (ECoE) of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and the CNRS Centre for Medieval and Modern Archaeology in the Mediterranean (LA3M) of the University of Aix-Marseille (AMU), with the support of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
For many interrelated reasons (secondary historical sources, topography, place-name, oral traditions) it was suspected that the church was founded by the Carmelites during the 13th century. However, the church in existence - if examined architecturally - cannot be earlier than the 14th century. For this reason, it was deemed necessary to systematically investigate the archaeological stratigraphy of the site.
During the investigations, three test cuts were made: two on the hill north of the church and one east of the church sanctuary. In the northeasternmost section, three layers were uncovered and examined, where the pottery that came to light from the intermediate layer dates with certainty to the 13th century, thus confirming, perhaps, the settlement of the Carmelites on the site at the time of their arrival in Cyprus.
In the northwesternmost section, two post-Byzantine layers were identified.
In the northwesternmost section, two post-Byzantine layers were identified. The first revealed several peg holes associated with a wall built on an older layer of mortar, which was uncovered at the end of the work.
In the section behind the sanctuary of the church, several empty spaces were excavated which were oriented east-west, suggesting empty graves probably belonging to a cemetery which may have been associated with the church. Moreover, at the same stratigraphic level, steps (stairs) carved into the rock came to light, which seem to lead under the sanctuary of the church. This last element, which was also verified by the geomagnetic survey carried out inside the church, suggests the existence of buildings under the church.
(ΘΘ/ΝΓιαν)
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