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HOLY TEMPLE OF ST. ANTONIOS

Built of chiseled stone, the parish chapel of St Antonio is located in the South part of the Massari occupied community, on the left side of the road to Katokopia. Dated circa 15th century, it is a small, single-naved domed church with a semicircular arcade on the East, topped by a semi-cupola. Externally, the North and South walls are both attached to buttresses.  Internally, the arch rests on an arc-boutant.  There are three entrances to the church. 

According to testaments both by local villagers and Rubert Gunnis, the church was decorated with frescos, still visible on the West side, despite their being enfolded in whitewash since shortly before the 1920s. A plate-tracery lay over and onto the arch before being removed by Turkish invaders, with only the apentures salvaged today.  The wood-carved iconostasis, now lost, is of unknown date, probably around the 18th- 19th centuries.

Today the chapel is almost entirely destroyed and desecrated, there is absolutely nothing inside and the door has been sealed with stones.  The old cemetery that was situated behind the church has been desecrated and destroyed; all that is left are memories of our descendants and a broken cross.

In April 2010, a Church Council was constituted through the initiative of the Morfou Metropolis and the Community Council, which is consists of Dr Eleftherio Antoniou (Chair of Community Council), Father Andrea Andreou, Costa Demosthenous and Charalambos Vassiliou.  The mission of this Church Council is to work in collaboration with the Technical Committee of Cultural Heritage and Morfou Metropolis for the inclusion of Saint Antonio chapel in the list of UNESCO of archaeological sites that need to be rescued and restored.  

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