Efforts to save the occupied churches are being made by organized groups of Acheritos.
Antonis Pikis, Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Committee of the Church of the Assumption of the Savior Christ in occupied Acheritou told KYPE that "when on August 30, 1974, the villagers left their homes and churches, they left behind five churches. These are the Holy Church of the Ascension of the Savior Christ, the chapel of Agia Marina, the church of Agios Dimitrios, the church of Agia Paraskevi and the historic church of Panagia Chrysopolitissa-Trapezitissa ".
He added that "today the church of the Ascension is in somewhat good condition, the chapel of Agia Marina, while the historic church of Panagia Chrysopolitissa - Trapezitissa must be preserved as soon as possible, because they are in danger of collapsing. The Ecclesiastical Committee, in collaboration with the organized ensembles of the Community, the Holy Diocese of Constantia - Famagusta and the Technical Committee, makes many efforts to preserve and save our religious and cultural heritage ".
Mr. Pikis expressed "thanks to the Technical Committee that included the Church of Agia Marina and Panagia Trapezitissa in the projects that will be preserved in the near future."
Referring to the church of the Ascension of the Savior, he said that in the early 1900s the community decided to build a larger church since the church of Agia Marina was small and could not accommodate people. The land for the construction of the church was given free of charge by a specific person, while all the villagers worked for free, either by transporting cars - logs from a location between Oroklini and Pyla, good quality special stones, or helping the builders to carve the stones and transport various other building materials ".
The church "which was single-aisled was completed in 1923, was 27,60 meters long and 11 meters wide. It had a very beautiful iconostasis carved by a taliador in Larnaca, known for the masterpieces he made at that time, while the inauguration of the Holy Temple of the Ascension took place on October 11, 1936 by the vicar of the Archdiocese of Cyprus Leontios ".
Regarding the church of Panagia Trapezitissa, he said that "it is located three kilometers north of the village of Acheritos, it is a building of the Latin period, which today is shaped in the architectural type of the three-aisled domed church. The church after the Turkish invasion was used for a long time as a sheep pen, since its entrances were previously built. It seems that inside the inner floor of the Medieval temple there were burials, which were located by archaeologists and the contents were removed, leaving inside some broken vessels ".
He also explained that "the church was 21,40 meters long and 13,80 meters wide. It was three-aisled with two domes and its interior was decorated with frescoes, which are part of the Cypriot-Renaissance painting that developed during the Venetian occupation. "Several of the frescoes have been detached from the archaeologists, while many others, located in the dome, in the spherical triangles and in the lower surfaces, are half-destroyed."
In the church he noted “remarkable samples of sculptural architectural decoration of the Latin occupation are also preserved, the roof structures form a cross, while a stone engraved misspelled inscription on the south, outer wall of the church preserves the information of the renovation in the 16th century. "After the Turkish invasion, the icon of Panagia Trapezitissa is kept in the Church of Agios Dimitrios in Acheritos".
Very close to the church of Trapezitissa there was the church of Agia Paraskevi and Agios Andronikos, which were completely destroyed.
Regarding the chapel of Agia Marina, Mr. Pikis said that "it started to be built after 1760. It was of Byzantine style, single-aisled, with three doors, two small windows and a bell tower, it was 15.70 meters long and 5.20 meters wide, while the icons were bought by Famagusta. Agia Marina was for 167 years the main church of Acheritos until the completion of the great Church of the Ascension of the Lord in 1925 ".
Source: KYPE