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The impressive temple of Ayia Napa has been making the city center of Limassol more beautiful for over a century!

25/12/2019
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The Ayia Napa church on Ayiou Andreou Street is a historical monument of particular importance for the course of the city's contemporary journey. Though its location was once considered to be far from the center, it is today a landmark of the historical city center. 

The imposing temple was built just a few years after the end of the Ottoman rule, marking a new age in the development of the city. This, however, did little to temper the controversies surrounding the design and location of the temple. Around 1885, a committee was established for the development of the project. By 1890, there had still not been any progress, and this led to protests from dissatisfied residents. 

Eventually, in 1891, the long-awaited architectural design of the temple arrived from Athens, and so the reconstruction work began. A few years later, in 1910, the old church that once stood in the same area was demolished, despite protests from the public.

The older temple, small and humble as it was, boasted an interior decked with interesting murals.

The impressive temple of Ayia Napa, featuring elements of the architectural style of eclecticism and influences from the design of the Chrysospiliotissa church in Athens, is now a landmark that attracts the attention of locals and visitors in Limassol.

Source of information: Tasos Andreou, "Limassol - Flashback", 2009
Photos: Pattichion Municipal Museum - Historical Archive - Limassol Study Center, Lemesou Mnimes

* NOTE: The tributes of the Project "History of Limassol" present information that has emerged from historical research thus far. Any new data is embedded into the tributes, once it has been confirmed.