Paphos Caving

[Dominic]

A few months ago we read a report in the papers about an interesting cave that lurked within Paphos itself, behind an old church. After a bit of investigation I found it, and did a bit of spelunking.

Read the article and chat about it below...
 

paphos_caving_fb.jpg (29.64 KiB) Viewed 5319 times

[cyprusmax47]

What a beautiful blog you made Dominic, from a few informations about the existing cave. Excellent shots and you are really brave to go so far into unknown areas... bravo

Max

[Lofos-5]

Intriguing place - another must visit soon. Thx.

Would be good to check whether there remains water in it all year round? Could have been used/dug for irrigation of the fields in years gone by? And maybe the church's location is also linked to the presence of water?

A.

[cyprusmax47]

Intriguing place - another must visit soon. Thx.

Would be good to check whether there remains water in it all year round? Could have been used/dug for irrigation of the fields in years gone by? And maybe the church's location is also linked to the presence of water?

A.

Andreas, there is water all year round. I was there in Oct 17 and the pic shows the amount of water there... how old do you think the stalactites are?



Max

[Lofos-5]

Andreas, there is water all year round. I was there in Oct 17 and the pic shows the amount of water there... how old do you think the stalactites are?
Max

Quick scan through the (online) literature states the following:

Wiki: An average growth rate is 0.13 mm (0.0051 inches) a year. The quickest growing stalactites are those formed by a constant supply of slow dripping water rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which can grow at 3 mm (0.12 inches) per year.

Sciencefocus: Limestone stalactites form extremely slowly – usually less than 10cm every thousand years – and radiometric dating has shown that some are over 190,000 years old. Stalactites can also form by a different chemical process when water drips through concrete, and this is much faster.

Encyclopedia: Stalactites and stalagmites are formed by water dripping or flowing from fractures on the ceiling of a cave . In caves, stalagmites grow rather slowly—0.00028–0.037 in/yr (0.007–0.929 mm/yr)—while in artificial tunnels and basements they grow much faster.

So if we assume these stalactites to be on average 3cm long, and that there is constant water dripping, then they could be between 200 to 700 (or more) years old using the above range of rates. I would not be surprised to learn that the church was built to "protect" the water that was feeding the fields below. So best estimate (and easiest to get) might be the age of the church? A fancy way to determine would be via radiometric dating (carbon isotopes).

Remember: stalactites (with a 'C') come from the ceiling, and stalagmites (with a 'G') come from the ground (at uni we learned a different way to remember but that would not be PC these days )

A.

[ryanaldi]

Another interesting blog thanks, and it's not far from where i live. Some of the photos look as if they are the insides of some alien creature! This info is from a brochure i got from Emba council, dated 2002. i know where the first two are but not St Prodromos, and i had forgotten about St George until i read the blog and then found the brochure!
"The church, or chapel, of St George, and the cave of St Lambrianos (where the icons are) is in the Petridia area of Emba. There are a few small chapels scattered around the rest of the village including St Charalambos, St Nectarios, and St Prodromos."
And this from google translate ---
"The restoration of the Ayios Georgios church and the landscaping of the surrounding area took place in 2010 by the Department of Antiquities in collaboration with the Emba Ecclesiastical Commission." underneath are the names of the chairman and members.
linda

[Lofos-5]

"The church, or chapel, of St George, and the cave of St Lambrianos (where the icons are) is in the Petridia area of Emba.

Thanks Linda for the name of the chapel and the cave - this allowed for some more Google searches - with limited success though.

Nice 360 deg panorama can be seen here: http://www.thevillagexpress.com/tours/v ... /tour/1002

And a reference (but no further info) here: http://www.cyprusalive.com/en/the-cave- ... lambrianos

Never heard of Saint Lambrianos before, apparently he is the only saint in Cyprus who is not celebrated although the church does officially recognise him as a saint.

A.

[Kili01]

There are some underground caverns on the opposite side of the harbour road from the handkerchief tree in Kato Paphos.That’s currently in the area which is fenced off. That also is attributed to St Lambrianos, were thought to have been used for religious purposes.

Dee

[Kili01]

The large caverns nearby on Fabrica Hill, were in fact quarried by the Romans who used the stone in the town they built here where The Roman Villas and the famous mosaics were found and have been excavated. It is now a UNESO World Heritage site.

The stone was again re cycled following several major earthquakes, and some time after the Arab raids of the 7th C.This stone was then used to build some of the older buildings in town.
Some stone apparently was also I was told was taken away to Egypt where it was used to line the banks of the Suez Canal...

Dee

[Dominic]

Here's an interesting (translated) bit on it:

THE CHURCH OF AGIOS GEORGIOS AND THE SAINT OF LYMPROS
On the site of Petridia between the city of Paphos and Emba, there is the church of Agios Georgios, a beautiful ancient chapel of unknown chronology, while beside its north there is the cave of Agios Limbros.
The chapel is built at the roots of the Petrified Plateau, while the cave of Aghios Limbros, a natural cave-burrow, is carved out of nature in the tall cliffs above the village of Petrida, which is made up of inhabitants of Eba.

The chapel of Agios Georgios today consists of three parts. The most ancient one is the eastern one, which houses an ancient tomb and is the sacred step of the temple, the central part that was later built, and then a small anteroom. The burial chamber belongs to the Roman Early Christian period, the central part was probably built at the beginning of the Middle Byzantine period, while the anteroom probably belongs to the Frankish period
Originally the church was frescoed. Today, St. Mercury and another unknown military saint, as well as a saint on horseback quite worn out, perhaps St. George, are saved on the walls. Recently lime bricks have almost eliminated these frescoes. Tradition says that the eyes of the saints were destroyed by the Turks.
In the oldest days on the day of Saint George's celebration after the consecration, a feast was held in the courtyard of the church.
The surrounding area of ​​the courtyard of the two Saints has been preserved and built with a traditional stone wall by the Emba Community Council, offering visitors a fine picture that is consistent with the historical mystery of the tradition and the entire natural environment of the area.

Saint Limbros is a local Saint of Pafos and a place of worship is located behind the ancient chapel of St. George. There is a great one
a cave named the Cave of Ai Limpros, and the Saint is worshiped there.
Inside the cave there are stalactites and stalagmites. Its length is very deep and after some distance it narrows a lot, so no one knows what is far below.
From its large spout, all year round water flows, and it was considered Holy when, in earlier times, a resident living next to the cave made a lake and poured in the water of the spring, which was then used for watering. When it was past he noticed that the skin in his hands that had a problem and was full of wounds and cure did not find it, he began to heal. He thought the cause was the water of the spring, or the mud of the fields, or both. He used them all over his body with wounds, and in a while he was completely done. He was sure that the harsh water was holy, and he gave it up, spread the fact, the world that had skin diseases began to come to the cave to get Holy. There were many who were cured, so it is perhaps they named the cave of Ai Limbrou, the saint who heals the leprosy,
The water of the source is considered to be the holy water of St. Lambros and is believed to cleanse all kinds of skin diseases, it is also believed that the Saint is treating the headaches.

The local tradition says that when the old days of Saracens and pirates landed on the shores of Paphos to pillage, steal, rape and kill the helpless and defenseless natives, the inhabitants of Empa found shelter in this cave that from the wild vegetation that was sprouted around it was completely hidden from human eye. In one of the Pirates raids, a wealthy resident hid in a cubicle of gold pounds in the cave of Agios Lembrus. But because he was an unfortunate usurper, Saint Librous punished him and did not let him find them after the Pirates left, no matter how he searched. It is believed that the pound with gold pounds is still hidden in the cave, so many still go there and are looking to find it.
Generally there is no information on who is and when he lived St. L. i forth, allegedly might have been one of the three hundred Alaman who came from Palestine and lived as ascetics in different parts of Cyprus.

Original Greek: http://empavillage.blogspot.com.cy/2017 ... t.html?m=1