The Archbishop of America met with displaced people from Gialousa

a 1 Gialousa, Nea Famagusta

A special emotion was reserved for the Archbishop, Elder of America Demetrios, his encounter with displaced people from Aegialousa (Gialousa), located on the Karpasia peninsula, in the occupied part of Famagusta.

The community and the Ecclesiastical Committee of Gialousa hosted a dinner for the Archbishop. The Bishop of Karpasia Christoforos and the community leader Pantelis Hadjipantelis awarded him honorary plaques for his "substantial contribution to the restoration of the Holy Temple of Archangel Michael (10th century AD) of Aigialousis". The dinner was attended by, among others, the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos, the metropolitans of Pittsburg Savvas and Koronia Panteleimon, the deacon Panteleimon Papadopoulos and the president of the Federation of Cypriot Organizations of America, Kyriakos Papastylianou.

In an exclusive statement to APE-MPE, Archbishop Dimitrios noted: "Gialousa and Karpasia in general is a very important place with its loyal population remaining (trapped) there. When I visited the area a few years ago and in fact the school in Rizokarpaso, I was very impressed by the very good Greek spoken by the students and the power and beauty of the place. I had also seen the restoration works of the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, which have now been completed ".

Mr. Dimitrios described Mr. Christoforos as an "excellent hierarch" and stressed that he prays to God to require him to serve the Apostle Andrew and the Archangel Michael in Gialousa.

According to information from APE-MPE, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is already preparing plans for the restoration of the Archangel Michael. The cost is expected to be around 300.000 euros.

It is noted that last May, Bishop Karpasia went to the United States, where the Archdiocese of America at an event, raised more than 80.000 dollars for the restoration of the Temple. Mr. Christoforos spoke on the topic: "The destruction of cultural heritage in the occupied areas of Cyprus - The example of the Church of the Archangel Michael in occupied Gialousa."

According to Archbishop Demetrios, the Diocese of Karpasia includes 26 parishes, of which, however, 24 remain inactive. "The project may have come under the auspices of UNESCO and the United Nations, but these are Organizations, which simply put their signature and will not contribute financially," he noted.

Liturgies were held in the church until the end of 1976, when a large number of trapped Greek Cypriots left Gialousa. It was then converted into a mosque and operated until 2015. Fortunately, the wood-carved iconostasis and the Holy Table were saved - without images. On September 6, 2015, on the day of the remembrance of the "inward miracle" of the Archangel Michael, the first Divine Liturgy after about 40 years was performed in the church. Since then this is done every year on the day of her feast.

Theology professor George Christodoulou left Gialousa when he was a student at the 10nd High School. "The church of the Archangel is typologically a cohesive cruciform church with a dome. The original church is a building of the 11th to 16th century AD. There were excellent murals, which in recent years were covered with lime coating. Only one of the Archangel Michael is saved in poor condition. "If restoration works are carried out, others will be revealed," he says, adding that two additions were made to the original church, one in the 19th century and another in the XNUMXth century.

The mayor of Gialousa, Panagiotis Hatzipantelis, and his family were forced to leave Gialousa when he was nine years old. He remembers with pain August 1974 and especially the day when the Turkish army gathered all the inhabitants outside the church of the Archangel.

Many men took them prisoner, among them his father. She never saw him again. Four years ago his remains were found in a mass grave.

"In our village," he said, "there was a big festival, which lasted almost a week, with pilgrims from Karpasia and other parts of Cyprus."

Gialousa was a pure Greek village in the province of Famagusta, in the central part of the Karpasia peninsula. It is located on the main road Famagusta - Rizokarpaso. Together with Rizokarpaso and Akanthou, they are the three largest villages in Famagusta.

The village got its name from the ancient Greek word Egalousa (aigialos = gialos) and means the location near the sea. Indeed, Gialousa overlooks the northern shores of the province of Famagusta and is built on a hillside. It was built in Byzantine times after the end of the Arab invasions during which it had suffered many destructions and looting. The settlement of Gialousa has always been numerous. In 1973 the population of the village was 2.460 inhabitants and it was the eighth largest in the whole province of Famagusta after Famagusta, Paralimni, Lysis, Deryneia, Vatili, Assia and Rizokarpaso. On the Karpasia peninsula, Gialousa was the second largest village with a very small difference from Rizokarpaso.

Due to its large population, a Greek high school operated in the village until the Turkish invasion in 1974, which also served the educational needs of neighboring villages. A large number of Gialousites had remained in the village and were trapped there by the Turkish military invasion and occupation. The number of prisoners was 1.909 in October 1975. Then they began to be expelled by the Turks and to take refuge in the free areas of Cyprus. In December 1975 there were only 537 people left, while they were reduced to 310 in January 1977. Today they live about 20, among them 85-year-old Savvas Liasis, an emblematic figure of the village.

Many of the Gialousiti refugees settled in Kalo Chorio (Larnaca province) and Avdimou (Limassol province). Many immigrated to different countries, where they had relatives, from the first decades of the 20th century to England, Australia and the United States of America.

Source: RES-EAP