Panagia Stazousa

Who would have thought that Cyprus would have its own "notre-dame"?

In today's excursion we are visiting the village of Pyrga, Larnaka district, and specifically we are on the road Pyrga-Klavdia.

Crossing the path that leads to the village Pyrga we were sure that we would discover once again something unique. Perhaps it was the beauty of nature around us that invited us to continue our journey, perhaps it was our intuition, we finally found ourselves in front of an ancient church the like of which we had never seen before.

It is said that in the time of the Latinocracy the wife of a rich nobleman suffered from profuse bleeding and asked for the help of the Virgin Mary and worshipping the miraculous icon of the Temple was healed.

Since then, the monastery has been named Panagia Stazousa because it heals women from bleeding .

The church is a building of the 14th century and belonged to a order of Latin monks who staff another monastery in the wider area is Gothic and strongly reminds you of Notre Dame of France as it is of the same architecture.

Who would have thought that Cyprus would have its own Virgin Mary of "Paris"?
Looking at the temple, you can see that it looks more like a fortress than a church.

On the south side of the church there is a sundial remnant of the then Century that still works clock. despite the years gone by.

The holy water of the Virgin Mary was found by coincidence when shrapnel of the National Guard fell in the area and burned everything except the temple, after the big fire where you find the holy water grew Bramble and rhododendron and when residents of the area found in the Temple dug where the bramble grew and found themselves in front of the holy water which led to another adjacent church dedicated to St. John the Baptist which is built between the green and the pine trees.

Too much damage was done to the temple by the Turks who turned the Temple into a stockyard burning everything blackening the walls internally, from the fires they lit to warm and it took many hours of work to restore the church to its original form.

Inside the church there are beautiful icons that decorate the church making it look like a precious jewel of Christendom, as befits Our Lady.

Entering the interior you are filled with serenity and tranquillity while the intense colours that dominate compose a unique setting.

The monastery and the whole area belong to the Holy Monastery of Stavrovouni. Panagia Stazousa celebrates the Friday of Diakenisimos.