Church of St George of the Greeks / Church
Description
Built in the 1360s, this once magnificent cathedral presents a rare example in the east of an Orthodox church built in the regional ‘Cypriot’ Gothic style of the period. Interestingly, by virtue of its functioning as the Orthodox cathedral of the town, it also incorporates some minor functional elements borrowed from local Byzantine architecture. Moreover, incorporated, relic-like into its south aisle is an older and much smaller Franco-Byzantine church. This is widely assumed to be St Symeon's chapel, due to the number of 16th-century sources that refer to the existence of a church of that name in connection with the larger cathedral of St George. It is also thought by some to be the original Greek cathedral and the medieval seat of Famagusta's Orthodox bishopric, possibly having once contained the tomb of St Epiphanios.
The remains of eight massive piers or columns are still visible in the interior. These once supported a high rib-vaulted ceiling, creating a large nave and two side aisles. Note the last remaining buttress at the northeast corner, and the well-preserved vaulting adjacent to the apse below. Revealed here by the break are some large terra-cotta jars that have been incorporated into the mortar between the vaulting and roof.
Surviving sections of the church's wall paintings are still discernible. Although weathered and abraded, it is evident that these are Paleologian in style – related to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople – and of extremely high quality.
