Paphos Life

Panayia Theotokos church is one of the hidden treasures we have near Paphos town at Letymbou village. Even when there are only ruins left after earthquakes in the past, it is worth a visit to see one of the oldest wall paintings in Cyprus. The church was the first of the many churches built in Letymbou though.

It is situated in the North edge of the village near the abandoned gypsum pit and recently a small tower was built to hold the bell.


This is the entrance which looks a bit scary with all the supporting beams...


after passing the " entrance " one can see the remaining apse with beautiful frescoes..




here depicted the Communion of the Apostles


and the Entombment also from the 15th century


The Ascension of Christ


detail


another close up


These wall paintings are among the most important of the 15th century which have survived in Cyprus. What is also interesting is the fact that most of the church was built with local gypsum stones, hence it could not survive earthquakes and heavy winter conditions



So finally the view from inside the apsis towards the modern little church which is not worth a visit


Max

I hope to go there soon, it looks fascinating, thanks for sharing your pictures.

Would like to see that. Thanks for posting.
Is it by the Biserica Panagias church that appears on Google Maps?

Spock wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 5:27 pm Would like to see that. Thanks for posting.
Is it by the Biserica Panagias church that appears on Google Maps?

Here a map where I marked the road to drive. From the main road turn to the left by the village water feature at this little square. P= parking. From there it is 50 m up the hill....



Max

Brilliant Max.
Thank you!

What a brilliant and fascinating find!....and great photos. I'm going to visit soon. There's so much out there waiting to be discovered!....Thanks for sharing Max.

Cherry345 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2019 1:10 pm I hope to go there soon, it looks fascinating, thanks for sharing your pictures.

Spock wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 1:43 pm Brilliant Max.
Thank you!

When you are already in Letymbou you have perhaps more time to visit also the lovely church of Saints Kerykos and Iouitta, just 800 m away.
To visit there you need to get the key from the priests daughter which lives next door to the large church Agios Theodoros.
http://www.letymbou.org/en/agioi-kyrikos-ioulitti-len
http://www.letymbou.org/en/churches-len ... odoros-len


If you missed my guest blog from last year: https://www.paphoslife.com/blog/letymbou_church_murals
On the attached map one can spot the church on the right hand side at the bottom of the image.

Max

What a brilliant and fascinating find!....and great photos. I'm going to visit soon. There's so much out there waiting to be discovered!....Thanks for sharing Max.

Thanks for sharing Max. I will add it to my list for end af April.

I am glad that there are quite a lot of members interested also in our Paphos history (>400 views in one day) which gives me confidence to continue with this kind of posts in the future...

Max

Yes please Max.... please continue your wonderful explorations of this beautiful island...look forward to reading your next adventure!

CyprusSue wrote: ↑Tue Mar 05, 2019 9:34 pm Yes please Max.... please continue your wonderful explorations of this beautiful island...look forward to reading your next adventure!

I certainly will - if it is not another guest blog as it is a lot of work for Dominic, my plans are in future to rather post like the story above...

Max