October 19, 2022

The Chapel of Saint Mnason in Tamasos of Cyprus


The humble Chapel of Saint Mnason is located opposite the well-known Monastery of Saint Herakleidos on the west side of the hill, a little further down from the famous necropolis of ancient Tamasos, which borders the Cypriot village of Politiko. Unfortunately, we lack evidence or testimonies about when this beloved little chapel was built or the Monastery that we know functioned there (only the ruins of some cells and other buildings that extend to the east and west of the chapel testify that there functioned a large monastery in the past).

The Monastery of Saint Mnason is testified to by the Russian monk Vasily Barsky who visited it in 1735, when the monastery was recently built. Barsky mentions that it was small and cramped and consisted of a small stone-built church and two or three cells. Then there were only two monks. In 1777, Archbishop Chrysanthos repaired the Monastery of Saint Mnason.

The Chapel of Saint Mnason is a single-aisled arched roof. It has internal dimensions of 6.85 X 3.65 m. without the arch. The arch, which is semi-circular, has a chord of 2.72 m and a bow of 1.60 m. It has two doors, one in the middle of the west wall 1.71 m wide and one in the middle of the north wall 1.14 m wide. The iconostasis of the chapel is carved in wood and was made during its repair by Archbishop Chrysanthos in 1777. Unfortunately, it has been largely destroyed. No old icons are preserved in the chapel today.

At the end of the 18th century, the monastery had a lot of property in the villages of Politiko and Episkopio, Mammari, Pera, Lythrodonda, Anagyia as well as Kapedes. It was never a large monastery and it seems that it was dissolved already at the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century.