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Saint George's Cathedral in Kormakitis 100 Years of Life

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Saint George's Cathedral in Kormakitis 100 Years of Life Saint George’s Cathedral in Kormakitis 100 Years of Life (1905-2005) Kormakitis, April 23rd 2005 Saint George’s Cathedral in Kormakitis 100 Years of Life (1905-2005) Edition: Saint George’ s Church Committee Of Kormakitis (- 1 -) Writing: Father Antonios Fragkiskou Ioannis Karis Elias Zonias George Foradaris Pictures: - Foradaris’ Foundation - Elias Zonias (- 2 -) CONTENTS Prologue ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Salutation from His Beatitude the Archbishop of the Maronites in Cyprus Mr. Petros Gemayiel ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Historical Retrospection of the Maronite Community of Cyprus ..... Error! Bookmark not defined. Kormakitis .................................................................................................................... 11 Saint George’s Cathedral ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Chapels and monasteries .............................................................................................. 45 (- 3 -) Prologue This book is published on the occasion of completing 100 years of life of the Saint George’s Cathedral in Kormakitis. It must be noted that this is the only book concerning the said church. The book is explaining the way of which Saint George’s church was built, analyses its role in the history of our community and describes its contents. By entering Kormakitis, every visitor can see the Saint George’s Cathedral. From any point of the village the cathedral, imposing and dominant the area, can be seen. Upon Saint George’s cathedral church committee the writing of this book was incumbent. With this book, the inhabitants of the village and the visitors will be informed of the cathedral’s construction and its later history. 100 years have passed, since 1905, when the Archbishop Neyemet Allah Selouan laid the foundation stone. During these 100 years the cathedral has created history and tradition, not only in Kormakitis but also, in the rest of the Maronite community and in Cyprus in general. The Church Committee wishes to thank the Vicar of the Saint George’s cathedral in Kornakitis, Father Antonios Fragkiskou, who gathered material for the writing of this book, as well as Mr Ioannis Karis for the allotment of the photographs from the records of the dear departed Ioannis Foradaris. (- 4 -) Special thanks are also owed to the President of the Church Committee, Mr George Foradaris and to the member of the Church Committee Mr Elias Zonias, who helped writing and publishing this book. Saint George’s Church Committee Kormakitis, April 2005 (- 5 -) Salutation from His Beatitude the Archbishop of the Maronites in Cyprus, Mr. Petros Gemayiel Dear Maronites of Kormakitis, You are celebrating this year the hundredth anniversary of you cathedral of Saint George. With this opportunity, remember one hundred years of pray and grace that are involved with this church. You must also remember, through the picture of Saint George, patron of the church, the struggles and sufferings of your ancestors to keep their faith alive. The one hundred years of history of the church are only a small period of the life and faith in this dear village of Kormakitis. You must think the hundreds of years that passed and go back to the beginning of Christianity in Cyprus, when Apostle Paul, travelling from Salamina to Paphos, stopped at Kormakitis. What is certain is that thousands of Maronites prayed and chanted at the Saint George’s church or at the churches that existed before. At this church the Maronites are chanting until today their Masse in Aramaic language, the language of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the only Maronite church worldwide in which one can listen to the deacon chanting in Syrian before the Gospel the “hush brothers”. With few words, the history of Saint George’s church in Kormakitis is a summary of the history of the Maronites in Cyprus. (- 6 -) I think of all of you and I pray for all of you, especially for those old people who stayed at Kormakitis facing, with courage and patience, all the difficulties of the past years. I don’t forget your venerable father S. P. Antonios Terzis, who has almost the same age with this of your church. And I pray in particular for the young people of Kormakitis to continue, following their ancestors’ steps, the faith and love towards the church. Finally, I would like to mention that we must pray for the priests who served and are serving this church, as well as for those who worked hard for it. We must also pray for the different church committees that served this church from time to time. May God, through Saint George, give us the joy of seeing Kormakitis soon reliving its previous life with joy, happiness and unity. + Petros Gemayiel Archbishop of the Maronites in Cyprus (- 7 -) Historical Retrospection of the Maronite Community of Cyprus Saint Maronas lived in the 4th century as a hermit near the Taurus Mountain in Syria Secunda, a part of the Byzantine Empire. Many people were impressed by his gift of healing. This fact, together with his remarkable and austere life led a lot of people to follow him. After his death, in 410 A.D., a church was built in his memory. His students composed the core of the Maronites and they continued constructing monasteries and churches in his name in Syria and Lebanon. Maronitism was the Christian movement inspired by Saint Maronas and its students. The monasteries that his students built were a source of moral uplift for many believers. The Maronites begun immigrating to Cyprus during the 8th century and they were coming form the ancient areas of Syria, the Holy Land and Lebanon. The immigration was carried out gradually in four periods. According to the historian Palmieri, around the 12th century the Maronite population of Cyprus numbered around 50000 people, inhabiting 60 villages. Proof of this is the fact that many Maronite churches and monasteries can still be found at Pentadaktylos. However, as a result of the persecutions that they suffered, the number was decreased substantially, and in 1960 only 5000 people were living in four villages on the north side of Cyprus: in Kormakitis, Asomatos, Saint Marina and Karpasia. Historical documents confirm that in 1593 the Maronites were inhabiting 19 villages, among which the four Maronite villages of today. (- 8 -) There are several monasteries and churches in areas were Maronites were inhabiting: the monastery of prophet Elias in Metohi, the chapel of Virgin Mary in Marki, the chapel of Virgin Mary in Kampyly, the chapel of Saint Romanos in Kefalovryso of Kythrea, as well as the churches in the four Maronite villages, that is, the church of the Holy Cross in Karpasia, the Saint George’s church in Kormakitis, the church of Archangel Michael in Asomatos and the Saint Marina’s church in Saint Marina. All these are only a few examples of the religious inheritance of the Maronites in Cyprus. Today, the Maronite community numbers around 6000 people, who are following the Maronite religion. Their religion is based on the eastern dogma of the Catholic Church and it’s characterized by a complete obedience to the Roman-Catholic Church. (- 9 -) The Maronites of Cyprus have always been a vivid, active and solid community, with their own homogeneous villages, their own schools, churches, clubs and other foundations, as well as their own Arabic dialect. Their co-existence with the wider community and the other communities has always been harmonious. This, however, did not prevent them from maintaining, with zeal and enthusiasm, their identity, which comprises of its own distinctive religion, culture, language, manners and customs. When the Republic of Cyprus became independent in 1960, they had to choose in which one of the two communities – Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot – to belong to. They were given no other choice. So, they chose to belong to the Greek-Cypriot community, with which they had more common bounds as the language, the culture and the religion. 1974 was a milestone for the Maronite community. As a result of the tragic events, the biggest part of the Community became refugees. Today, 98% of the Maronites are living in the south part of Cyprus, controlled by the Cypriot Government, scattered in different areas of the island. (- 10 -) Kormakitis Kormakitis is situated at the northwest corner of Cyprus. It’s in the center of the villages of Saint Eirini (south), Diorios (southeast), Myrtou (east), Panagra (east), Orka (north) and Livera (northwest). It’s the biggest village in extent of the district of Kyrenia. The total area of the village is 3789 donums from which 13600 is governmental land. The village is built up on a hill. At the foot of the hill, the valley of the village is extended. On the distant is the sea. Around the village there are many olive-trees and locust-trees. Kormakitis is the biggest of the four Maronite villages of Cyprus. The other three are: Asomatos, Karpasia, Saint Marina. Before 1974, the population of Kormakitis came up to 1800 people. At the community there was a school with 210 students. There was also a kindergarten. Today, 115 people are living in Kormakitis. Most of them are old. (- 11 -) The school is closed. The last student graduated in June 1999. Kormakitis is a pure Maronite village. The arrival of the first inhabitants of the village dates back to the 8th century, when the first raids of the Arabs to Syria and Lebanon started. For the name of the village there are three versions. These are: First version: The inhabitants came from Kour of Lebanon. When they settled at the village they were longing for the place they came from, Kour, and they were saying “Nahnigina oua Kour magit”, meaning “we came but Kour didn’t”. So, from the phrase Kourmagiti came the name of Kormakitis. This is the strongest version. (- 12 -) Second version: It has again to do with the descent of the inhabitants and in particular it has to do with the ancient Phoenician city of Kermia.
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