In 1923, at a time when Limassol had very few schools, the Catholic Church decided to found a school, which would be administrated by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. This school has been constantly a part of the city’s life for over 8 decades.
The school of Terra Santa, as it was called, was originally housed in a stone-built construction at 360, Agiou Andreou Street (where the Orthodox Bishopric of Limassol is housed today). It was founded to serve the educational needs of the children of the Latin (Catholic) community, but through the years many children outside of the Catholic minority have studied there, from the Greek Cypriot, the Turkish Cypriot and other communities.
The interest of Limassol’s families to send their children to study there, led to the need for a larger building, so in 1965 it moved close to the roundabout of Agios Nikolaos, where the school is still housed today.
The school of Terra Santa was renamed to St. Mary’s School after moving to the new building and it is still called that today. The building, designed by the architect Stavros Economou, was finished in 1965 and it is one of the most remarkable samples of modernism in Cyprus.
The school of St. Mary’s in Limassol, originally founded as a girl’s college, even though the primary school and the kindergarten were mixed. Since 2000 the high school has been mixed, too. For several years, there used to be boarding facilities, too, for students coming from nearby villages or cities, as well as from abroad (Africa, Britain, Greece and elsewhere).
A separate wing in the school hosts the monastery with cells for 24 Franciscan Sisters, a workshop area, a kitchen and a church.
Source: 'St. Mary's School: A versatile offering to Limassol's education', Salomi Papadema - Sophocleous, Record of the 2nd Scientific Symposium of Oral History, Limassol Municipality Research Center
Photos: Limassol Historical Archives
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