Timios Stavros (Holy Cross) Church

The church of Timios Stavros is located in the village of Pelendri in Limassol, southeast of the village of Amiantos near Saitas. It is included in the list of ten churches in the Troodos area belonging to the UNESCO monuments. It is built near the cemetrey and probably was once the cave church of Pelendri.

The church is a one-aisled type with a dome and decorated with frescoes in 1178. For unknown reasons, the church was destroyed and the only one rescued was the arch, which was incorporated into a new church of the same type in the 14th century. In the middle of the 14th century, the northern chapel was added to the east with a straight wall instead of an arch, and in the 16th century the southern chapel, which has an arch, was added.

The frescoes of the church are of great importance because they cover a large part of the history of Cyprus. There are frescoes from the 12th century until the 16th century. The main part of the temple was decorated with frescoes of the 14th century, from at least three painters. The palaeological style was used by the first painter, the second painter was more linear and stylised and the latter followed the Byzantine technique.

Location

Churches

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