The Sacred Metropolis of Constantia and Ammochostos has made reference to the history and spiritual and cultural value of the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, which is located in the currently occupied village of Agios Sergios in the district of Ammochostos (also known as Famagusta) in Cyprus.
The Sacred Metropolis hopes that we will soon be able to celebrate their memory again and that the bells of freedom will ring in all the currently occupied churches of martyred Cyprus.
The Church of Saint Sergius and Bacchus was probably built in the 13th or 14th century, initially in the form of a compact cruciform with a dome and without a narthex. Later, a narthex covered with a blind dome was added to the western side. The walls are constructed of limestone sourced from the nearby ruins of Salamis-Constantia.
Later, perhaps in the 16th century, the northern aisle was added, which is covered with a vault supported by two sling-shaped brackets originating from projections on the northern wall and the two strong piers that replaced the northern wall of the original church. Obviously, after the addition of the northern aisle, the western wall that separated the original main church from the narthex was demolished, and the area of the church and the narthex became unified. At that time, a new narthex was added, common to both aisles, covered with a transverse vault. To counteract the thrusts of the vault, two rectangular buttresses were built on the western wall to more effectively counter the thrusts of the narthex vault.
The stoa was built much later on the south side of the church. After 1974, when the area was occupied by Turkish troops, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus was looted and desecrated. The holy icons were stolen and the church was turned into a stable. However, it was later cleaned and converted into a kindergarten and theater.
The maintenance work of the church through the bicommunal Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage was completed in 2020. The stolen icons remained in the hands of Turkish antiquities smugglers who in 2005 approached various residents of the village with the aim of selling them.
When negotiations collapsed due to the high price demanded by the antiquities smugglers, they secretly transported the holy icons to the free areas and tried to sell them. However, they were arrested by the police authorities and the holy icons were confiscated.
The icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, after its conservation, was kept in the Byzantine Museum of the Makarios III Foundation, while in recent years it has been kept in a special display case in the Synod of the Sacred Metropolis of Constantia and Ammochostos, until the time of its return to its natural place.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
The Sacred Metropolis hopes that we will soon be able to celebrate their memory again and that the bells of freedom will ring in all the currently occupied churches of martyred Cyprus.
The Church of Saint Sergius and Bacchus was probably built in the 13th or 14th century, initially in the form of a compact cruciform with a dome and without a narthex. Later, a narthex covered with a blind dome was added to the western side. The walls are constructed of limestone sourced from the nearby ruins of Salamis-Constantia.
Later, perhaps in the 16th century, the northern aisle was added, which is covered with a vault supported by two sling-shaped brackets originating from projections on the northern wall and the two strong piers that replaced the northern wall of the original church. Obviously, after the addition of the northern aisle, the western wall that separated the original main church from the narthex was demolished, and the area of the church and the narthex became unified. At that time, a new narthex was added, common to both aisles, covered with a transverse vault. To counteract the thrusts of the vault, two rectangular buttresses were built on the western wall to more effectively counter the thrusts of the narthex vault.
The stoa was built much later on the south side of the church. After 1974, when the area was occupied by Turkish troops, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus was looted and desecrated. The holy icons were stolen and the church was turned into a stable. However, it was later cleaned and converted into a kindergarten and theater.
The maintenance work of the church through the bicommunal Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage was completed in 2020. The stolen icons remained in the hands of Turkish antiquities smugglers who in 2005 approached various residents of the village with the aim of selling them.
When negotiations collapsed due to the high price demanded by the antiquities smugglers, they secretly transported the holy icons to the free areas and tried to sell them. However, they were arrested by the police authorities and the holy icons were confiscated.
The icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, after its conservation, was kept in the Byzantine Museum of the Makarios III Foundation, while in recent years it has been kept in a special display case in the Synod of the Sacred Metropolis of Constantia and Ammochostos, until the time of its return to its natural place.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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