The Church of Panagia of Kanakaria ( Greek Εκκλησία της Παναγίας Κανακαρι ) is an early Christian Byzantine church located in the village of Litrangomi in the Iskele area ( Karpas Peninsula ) in Northern Cyprus . The church is famous for its wall mosaics of the VI century .
| Orthodox Church | |
| Church of Panagia Kanakaria | |
|---|---|
| Παναγία Κανακαριά | |
 Modern look | |
| A country |  North Cyprus |
| Village, district | Litrangomi , Iskele |
| Denomination | Orthodoxy |
| Building type | Basilica |
| Architectural style | Architecture of Byzantium |
| Founding date | about 500 years |
| Building | OK. 525 - approx. 550 |
| condition | Restored |
The early Byzantine basilica of Panagia Kanakaria with a gable roof was erected in the 1st half of the 6th century , but about a hundred years later it was destroyed as a result of Arab raids. In its place in the VIII century a vaulted basil was erected, badly damaged by the earthquake of 1169 .
In the 14th century , the decayed church building was rebuilt. In 1738 a monastery was built at the church.
The building of the Church of Panagia Kanakaria consists of fragments of construction of different time. The mosaic apse belongs to the early Byzantine basilica of the 6th century. In the XI - XII centuries , a dome was installed instead of a vaulted roof and a porch was attached.
In this form, the church of Panagia Kanakaria has survived to this day. In June 2008, the restoration of the church and monastery was completed.
Mosaic
Mosaic images of the church of Panagia Kanakaria are associated with the re-erection of the city of Salamis in the first years of the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565) [1] . On the original mosaic that adorned the church of Panagia Kanakaria, the baby Jesus was depicted sitting on the lap of the Virgin Mary surrounded by two archangels . This mosaic, dated to the 1st half of the 6th century, is one of the six surviving mosaic works of the early Byzantine iconography of that period. It shows us a new, completely original version of the composition of the Virgin with the archangels [2] . The Virgin Mary is seated on a lyre-like throne, and the baby Jesus on her lap is depicted right in front - this is the first known case of this type of image, called the Cypriot, which later became widespread in Byzantine iconography. The Mother of God and the Baby are surrounded by a shining halo indicating their divinity. The Virgin Mary is dressed in a blue maforium , against which the white-gold clothes of the infant Christ stand out beautifully.
The mosaic image of the Virgin and Child, surrounded by two archangels, is framed by a wide decorative ribbon made of thorns, which contain thirteen medallions with the faces of the twelve apostles and Christ on the background of acanthus leaves. The technique of execution of this mosaic shows a linear style using large smalt cubes, bringing it closer to the famous early Byzantine mosaics of the St. Vitaly church in Ravenna . There is a transition from classical ancient traditions to new, original methods of performing a Byzantine mosaic, striving for symmetry and strict schematization (as, for example, in the monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai ). During the period of iconoclasm, mosaic, apparently, was plastered and discovered again only in the 20th century. This mosaic is considered the oldest non-Cyprus mosaic in the apse, preserved in its place.
During the Turkish invasion of 1974, this mosaic was removed by the Turkish black archaeologist Aydin Dikmen , illegally removed from the island and sold to private Western collectors in parts. In 1985, thanks to a London art dealer, fragments of a mosaic with the faces of the Apostles Luke and Bartholomew returned to Cyprus. In 1988 in Switzerland, an American, Peg Goldberg, bought from Dikmen four mosaic fragments from the Church of Panagia Kanakaria for one million dollars. In the US, Goldberg proposed a mosaic to Paul Getty in Malibu for $ 20 million, but the museum director notified the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus about this. After two years of legal proceedings, in 1991 the Indianapolis federal court ruled to return to the Republic of Cyprus mosaic fragments with the upper half of the image of Christ, the head and part of the breast of the Archangel Michael, as well as mosaic medallions with the faces of the Apostles Matthew and Jacob. In 1997 a mosaic medallion with the face of Apostle Thaddeus was returned from Munich. During a search in the Munich house of Aydin Dikmen, the police discovered, among other things, a mosaic medallion with the face of the Apostle Thomas, fragments with the hand of the Archangel Gabriel and a fragment of the left palm of the Virgin Mary. In the spring of 2013, the Munich court decided to return all these works of art of the Cyprus Orthodox Church and in November of the same year they were returned to the Byzantine Museum of Nicosia [3] . The fate of the other fragments remains unknown.
Some other mosaic images in the northern part of the church, such as the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin and Child with the Infant, were repeatedly restored.
Notes
- ↑ The Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation. Pp. 29
- ↑ A. Korovin, Sidorov Η. A. The church in Kitty and the monuments of early Byzantine time in Cyprus. P. 3
- ↑ Ancient icons stolen from churches after the armed invasion of Turkey returned to Cyprus from Germany
Sources
- The Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation. Pp. 28-30
- Korovin A. K., Sidorova Η. A. The church in Kitty and the monuments of early Byzantine time in Cyprus. P. 3
- Ancient icons stolen from churches after the armed invasion of Turkey returned to Cyprus from Germany // www.newsru.com
- Cyprus. Karpas Peninsula (Karpasia) // www.travelled.ru
- Panagia Kanakaria // Schwarzaufweiss magazine website