Antiphonitis

Antiphonitis: church exterior

Antiphonitis: church interior - frescoes on walls and pillars interior of dome, note lancet windows for scale

Antiphonitis: church interior - dome, note lancet windows for scale

Antiphonitis is a 12th-century domed church in Cyprus, Kyrenia District. It is reached from the network of tracks in the area of the Herbarium and Agios Amvrosios, situated with a view of the sea.

First church was built here in the 7th century and soon after a monastery was built next to it. Both were rebuilt in the 12th century in Byzantine style.^[1] The dome is supported by eight pillars, four built into the walls and four free-standing. It is understood that this is the last church of this style remaining in Cyprus.

Further rebuildings in Gothic style took place in the 14th - 15th centuries.

It has an array of frescoes on the walls and on the pillars, most of them retaining a lot of colour, and the inside of the dome is covered by a painting of Christ Pantokrator (Christ the Enthroned). Some of the paintings are from the 12th century, but some, including the Christ in the dome, from the 15th. Most of frescoes have been looted over the last decades.

References

1. "Antiphonitis church". Wondermondo.

Coordinates: 35°20′N 33°37′E / 35.333°N 33.617°E