Panagia Angeloktisti, the church built by angels

If someone asked me for a single work of art not to miss in Cyprus, I’d think of the Angeloktisti mosaic. It’s small, it’s in a village church by Larnaca airport and it costs nothing to see, yet it has been in place for almost 1,500 years.

Where it is

The church stands at the north-western end of Kiti, 12 km from Larnaca and ancient Kition according to the UNESCO entry, or about 9 km as the crow flies. Local tradition says it was founded by people from Kition who fled here from Arab raids, and the name, «built by angels», comes from another folk tradition.

A church of many periods

What stands today is an 11th-century domed church on a cross-shaped plan, built on top of the remains of a 5th-century early Christian basilica whose semicircular apse survives. In the 12th century a chapel dedicated to the healer saints Cosmas and Damian was added to the north, and in the late 13th or early 14th century the so-called Latin chapel went up to the south, with the coats of arms of the wealthy Frankish Gibelet family and the tombstone of Simone Renier de Gibelet, who died in 1302. The Franks also added a new front and the bell tower, visible in the photo of the façade.

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The mosaic

The extraordinary part is in the semi-dome of the apse. It’s a 6th-century wall mosaic from the time of Justinian, with the Virgin standing on a gold ground, the Child in her left arm and the archangels Michael and Gabriel on either side. The UNESCO entry considers it one of the most important wall mosaics of early Christian art and the only one surviving in the monuments of Cyprus. It’s also the oldest monumental depiction of this type of Virgin, and its inscription calls her «Holy Mary». The Larnaca Tourism Board adds that mosaics of this period have only been found in Cyprus and on Mount Sinai.

The church also keeps 11th-century wall paintings, a 16th-century wooden iconostasis and icons from the 13th to the 19th century. Among them, the board picks out a 10th-century panel that brings together the Virgin, Lazarus and St Luke.

Opening hours and visiting

It opens daily, 6:00 to 16:35 from September to May and 6:00 to 18:30 from June to August. Entry is free, it’s wheelchair accessible and it closes on public holidays. Services are still held, so wear something that covers shoulders and knees and avoid wandering in during a liturgy.

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UNESCO Tentative List

Cyprus added the church to its UNESCO Tentative List in 2015, the waiting room for a formal nomination. The listing highlights the blend of Byzantine and Frankish elements and the site’s importance since antiquity.

Combining the visit

I’d combine it with the Cape Kiti lighthouse and Hala Sultan Tekke, on the way to Larnaca. Back in town, the district’s other great Byzantine church is St Lazarus.

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