[ SHAME ] Chrysopolitissa church in Girne vandalised

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 12:59

▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ]



Chrysopolitissa is a small church in the centre of the townof Kyrenia. The date of building is uncertain, but ca. 1150 is a fair estimate. The barrel roof has collapsed but this date is unknown also.



Unfortunately the remains of the Chrysopolitissa church are constantly and negatively in the news. A couple of months ago the marble carved cross with Jesus went missing on the front of the church (but was suddenly returned and cemented in its old place).



Alas, during one my Kyrenia Walks with British expats I noticed that the front door, closed with a lock (picture 1), was forced (picture 2). Vandals broke the lock and the bar behind the door (picture 3) to enter the much ruined church (picture 4). Were they after the last remains of the iconostasis?



[more]

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 13:04

[continued]



More about this ruined church (inside and outside) coming soon on my web site - photographed before it collapses completely and the last valuable wood carvings are stolen.



And yes, I have called the Girne Belediye to report. And yes, I was told to drive from Alsancak to Girne and report the vandalising to the Girne Police. I'll do it tomorrow. It's not easy to help Cypriot Turks to protect their Byzantine and medieval monuments... Hans Doeleman.

BoTanica


Joined: 22/12/2009
Posts: 714

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 13:12

What a shame. I hope they are able to do something to stop further deterioration and vandalism. Good job you are ready to help.

mamachina


Joined: 22/11/2008
Posts: 730

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 13:46

Keep at them, Hans. At least the little plaque came back! If only it could be restored to a reasonable state before some Gk Orth priest comes a wandering by and can complain again,.......There must be SOMEONE who deals in ancient (or modern) monuments, surely??

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 18:00

Decades before the English King Richard I Plantagenêt, by later, poetic generations affectionately nicknamed "the Lionheart" or "Lionhearted", set first foot on Cyprus (May 1191) - Byzantine, Greek speaking inhabitants of Kyrenia* celebrated mass in their primitive Chrysopolitissa church.

On Sundays, when I do a Kyrenia Walk, my mainly British guests on the walk are usually silent when I talk about the little church and then they realise what they see. The churchgoers were, some 850 years ago, so convinced of their belief and their church - they're all gone without a trace left...

I've updated the web page with a closer look at something you have never seen before. Not close enough to see all the details, but... keep reading!

▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ].



* Kyrenia is at least four and a half THOUSAND years old and possibly even older as a small settlement!

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 18:30

I've updated the web page

▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ]

with a map of Kyrenia around 1300 (a remake).

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 18:43

By the way and just for the record (let me know when it's getting boring...): Almost all Greek speaking Cypriots belong(ed) to the Greek Orthodox church. This church uses the Byzantine liturgy which is done in the old Greek language. The Christian church of Cyprus was founded by the missionary Barnabas, who (with the apostles Andreas and Paul) preached the evangely in the island. The Orthodox church of Cyprus is much older than the one in Greece - it's the oldest state church in Christendom.

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 19:24

Web page updated with a new picture (closer look at the last remains of the iconostasis):

▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ]

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 20:10

Updated again: added pictures of the wood carved and painted (red, gold and blue) remains of the iconostasis of the Byzantine Chrysopolitissa (chrysos means gold) church in Kyrenia. Waiting in a roofless ruin, in the rain, sun and salt wind till... nothing is left.

▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ].



[ END of updates ]

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 21:30

275 Views! More than I expected! Must have been the headline...

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 22:06

Thank the lord - I've remembered how to reopen a closed thread. )

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 22:09

Anyway, where was I. Thanks for bringing this to our attention Hans. It's such a shame.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
08/02/2011 22:26

I'm sure that when this story surfaces in the South, the church will have been desecrated, turned into a brothel, and used for child sacrifices on Sundays!

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
09/02/2011 01:05

Hans

I sometimes wonder why you bother if you, in person, is required to travel to Girne from Alsancak to make a report, in person, to the Police having reported the initial crime, by phone, to the Girne Council (Belediye). TC's caring about their own Country and Heritage beggars belief and no wonder it's full of ruling bludgers!



Richard

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
09/02/2011 08:51

RE msg 14, Brinsley: (...) I sometimes wonder why you bother (...)

▶ So do I, Richard. But I try to do my little bit, although I realise I can't change the world and not even Northern Cyprus. I find the Byzantine, medieval and Ottoman remains in TRNC important enough to care. Who knows, maybe one day the Cypriot Turks will care also. If they are not told, what will happen..?

P.S. I'll go to the Girne Police today (with prints of my photographs and a map), hope to find a policeman who understands what I'll try to explain - and I expect an alarm call for the whole police force...

P.P.S. My wife's idea: if "they" don't act - we'll close the door again with a (own spare) lock. Or would that be a crime..? See you in jail..?

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
09/02/2011 16:53

Wednesday, February 9, 3.30 pm. Follow-up: so I went from Alsancak to the Girne Police station, where I met with four very friendly officers. They became interested when I showed some pictures and a Girne map to point at the Chrysopolitissa church. No, they had never seen or heard of this Byzantine church. Then a phone call was made and I was told to go to Girne castle to meet Mrs. R.Ö. from the Girne Antiquities Department. She would know what to do...

I'll do that tomorrow...

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 09:37

Thursday, February 10, 9.30 am. Follow-up: I'm on my way (Alsancak <--> Girne castle) to meet Mrs. R.Ö. from the Girne Antiquities Department. Trying to tell her about 'see above' and make someone shut and lock the door again of the Chrysopolitissa church. Will I succeed this time..?

BoTanica


Joined: 22/12/2009
Posts: 714

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 10:23

Well done and good luck. By the way, any news on the remains of the old church ruins you discovered a while ago?

cavalryman


Joined: 08/11/2010
Posts: 314

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 10:54

There was no roof on this church in the 60,s so it has not changed much.It was use duntil recently as a store for the fish cafes in the harbour canli balak if i remember correctly .I live next to it and if I can help let me know.

cavalryman


Joined: 08/11/2010
Posts: 314

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 13:57

As a further updat a nice little man came round about 2 hours ago and secured the door with a chain and padlock.I will keep and eye on it.Well done hans

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 17:27

RE msg 19 & 20, cavalryman: Thank you for your feedback! I (we!) know now the roof collapsed between 1918 (George Jeffery, a great British lover of Cyprus!) and the 1960's (C44 member cavalryman). Anyone out there who can tell the exact date/year?!

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 20:19

Bill: -1 points.

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:03

Follow-up and end of story: IT WORKED! I told my story, showed my prints and was promised by the Girne Antiquities Department that a new lock would be put on the door of the Chrysopolitissa church at once. See the picture on the web page...



▶ [ http://www.allcrusades.com/bb_webpages_04/03_chrysopolitissa_church/tekst.html ].



Sigh...

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:07

Thanks Hans. What have I won?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:21

Hans. What do you know about the Medresses. I know there is one in Famagusta - have you been to see it? Are there any others in Cyprus.

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:25

Bill, one of the first buildings of the Ottoman Turks in 1571/72, just after the conquest of Cyprus (1570/71) was the Medresse (religious school) in Famagusta (the building next to the Lala Mustafa Pasha mosque, with the two granite columns in front, where the Venetian commander of Famagusta was flayed alive, ordered by Lala Mustafa Pasha). There are many medresses in (Northern) Cyprus - what do you want to know?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:36

Hans. Why did the Sultans, who originally built the Medresses, name them after their wives. What was the theory behind this?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/02/2011 21:37

Hans. Why did the Sultans, who originally built the Medresses, name them after their wives. What was the theory behind this?