Armenian Church in Turkish-occupied Cyprus hosts 1st liturgy in 50 years

PanARMENIAN.Net - Divine Liturgy was carried out for the first time in 50 years in the Armenian Church of Virgin Mary in the Turkish-occupied northern part of the Cypriot capital of Nicosia on Sunday, May 11, Asbarez reported citing Gibrahayer Magazine.

The Liturgy was carried out by the Armenian Archbishop Varoujan Hergelia, who re-consecrated the church as it had not been used for such a long time. The event was addressed by Armenian-Cypriot Member of Parliament Vartkes Mahdessian, who spoke at the church’s first ceremony in more than half a century.

The Church lies in the northern part of Nicosia, which is occupied by the Turkish government along with the rest of northern Cyprus, but recognized as Cypriot territory by the international community. The Church provided shelter for thousands who fled the Armenian Genocide between 1915 and 1923.

The church complex, which was in a very bad condition, was restored between 2008 and 2013 with the held of UNDP-ACT and USAID funding following the initiative of the American Ambassador John Koenig.

Also present at the liturgy were state officials, representatives of other religious communities of the island and members of foreign diplomatic missions in Cyprus as well as a large number of Armenian Cypriots who came from all over the island and from abroad.

It was a great opportunity for Armenian Cypriots to travel from abroad as next Sunday the annual pilgrimage to the Armenian Monastery of Saint Magar (Ayios Makarios) in the Pentadaktylos Mountain will take place.

The monastery which is known as Magaravank or Armenomonastiro, sits in Plataniotissa forest and is an 11th century Coptic monastery dedicated to Saint Magar. It came under the Armenian Orthodox Church in 1425 and it was inhabited by monks until 1800. Armenian families lived in the vicinity until the 1920s.

The monastery’s estate which was the Armenian Prelature’s most important source of income was used as a weekend resort by Armenian Cypriot families, and a camping site by scouts and students. The monastery’s site was abandoned in 1974.

The pilgrimage, which is also an important event of the Armenian Cypriot community, was revived in May 2007 on the initiative of House representative Mahdessian under the supervision of the UNFICYP. From 2009 onward it has been taking place at the beginning of May each year.