Church restorations proceeding well, say antiquities department

August 2013

RESTORATION works being carried out at two Cypriot Middle Byzantine monuments both situated in refugee communities: Ayia Marina Kandou in Limassol and Panayia Kofinou in the Larnaca district have made significant progress, the Antiquities Department said yesterday.

The projects, begun in 2012, come under the Eumathios Philokales, promotion of selected middle byzantine monuments of Crete and Cyprus is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund via the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme us 2007-2013.

The restoration of the half-ruinous church of Ayia Marina Kandou were conducted following the confirmation of a graphic reconstruction.

Also between January 2012 and June 2013 a restoration team from the department of antiquities restored the Church of Panayia Kofinou. Extensive works took place for the restoration of the monument’s masonry -. removal of the old grouting and replacement with new grouting – use of reinforcing injections in the core of the masonry, replacement of worn stones, treatment of cracks, excavation beneath the church’s floor and treatment of the church’s foundations with a special material against humidity.

The same team undertook the preparation works for the landscaping of the surrounding area, which will be implemented by the private sector. In addition, the surviving frescoes have been cleaned, consolidated and conserved.

Since the beginning of the two projects €393.264 has been spent in total, and the European Regional Development Fund has already funded it to the tune of 80 per cent, amounting to €221.090.

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