PNT-00956 > Tessa Henderson, Church of St. George Arpera, Pencil drawing, 29x20 cm, 1985-88.
About two-km from the village of Tersefanou, very close to the spring of Arpera, stands the church of St. George of Arpera. Legend has it that the church was built by a certain Dragoman called Christofakis Constantinou. While travelling around Larnaca district, collecting taxes for the Pasha, he lost a bag full of money. He prayed to St. George to help him and promised to build a church in his name and the saint revealed to him the spot where the money lay.
A fresco above the north door depicts the donor and his family offering the church to an angel. It is interesting to note the clothing of the eight persons included in the scene which shows the Turkish influence on the Cypriot costume.
Two dedicatory written inscriptions record the erection and decoration of the church. A very unusual icon also decorates the iconostasis, the icon of St. Christopher Cynocephalus circa 1745. The saint appears with the head of a dog, according to the legend, and carrying the young Christ on his shoulder.
Saint Christopher was a handsome young man who wanted to devote his life to Christ but was always tempted by young women. He prayed to the Virgin Mary to help him and in turn she rescued him from temptation by giving him a dog’s head, so that no woman would look at him again.
A large painting of St. George spearing the dragon bears the signature of Philaretos and the date 1747. The saint carries the small figure of a rider, wearing a turban and holding a coffee pot, on the back of his horse. This pillion rider appears often and is supposed to be either the son of a widow from Mytilene captured by the Saracen Emir of Crete or the son of Leo and Theophano of Paphlagonia captured by the Governor of Bulgaria. St. George saved the youth on his Memorial Day and returned him to their family. This explains the inclusion of a turban and coffee pot as the young boy was once a captive servant. Pairs of children’s shoes are often seen hanging outside the church as St. George is believed to cure children suffering from leg and foot disorders. It is also an important pilgrimage site for Turkish-Cypriots.
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
