Holy Bishopric of Trimythous:
Digital Program “Religious Tourism - Pilgrimage Itineraries”
The Office of Ecclesiastical Ministry of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous has created an innovative and unique, for both Cyprus and Greece, Digital Program entitled “Religious Tourism - Pilgrimage Itineraries” (https://churches.imtrimythountos.org.cy). The integrated cooperation action was implemented through Measure 19 of the Rural Development Program (RDP) 2014-2020 “Support for local development through LEADER” of the Larnaca and Famagusta District Development Agency, led by the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous and having as partner the Women Association of Rural Larnaca (WARL).
The objective of the Digital Program is to inform, highlight and promote, both in Cyprus and abroad, the Christian cultural heritage of municipalities and communities of Larnaca province, under the jurisdiction of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous. More specifically, the Program includes: the Episcopal Residence of the Bishopric in Mosfiloti; two Holy Monasteries, the Monastery of Saint Thekla and Saint Minas; the main churches and chapels of two municipalities, of Athiainou and Lefkara; the main churches and chapels of nineteen communities: Alaminos, Vavla, Delikipos, Kalavasos, Kato Drys, Kato Lefkara, Lageia, Mari, Maroni, Menogeia, Skarinou, Tochni, Choirokoitia, Psematismenos, Agios Theodoros, Ora, Alethriko, Kornos and Mosfiloti; as well as four pilgrimage chapels: Panagia Semistrelia (for the Russian-speaking community) and Panagia Soumela (for the Pontic Greeks) in Alethriko; Saint Evfimianos in Kornos (the occupied village of Lysi) and the chapel of Blessed Olympiada in Mosfiloti (located within the premises of the Foundation “Ierapostoli”). The municipalities and the communities participating in the Program are those that fall within the LEADER Intervention Area of the Larnaca and Famagusta District Development Agency for the programming period 2014-2020.
In the context of the Program was created the digital platform https://churches.imtrimythountos.org.cy. It contains sixty-five churches and ecclesiastical relics (more than 500 items), the dating of which spans a period of more than fourteen centuries. Most of these relics are either totally unknown or known only in specialized bibliography. More specifically, the Program has developed:
A. An interactive map in Greek and English language that includes the following information and data:
1. The main church of each municipality or community, their most important chapels and ecclesiastical relics.
2. A brief description, including historical information, of each church accompanied by photographs of their exterior and interior, but also of many of their most important relics (over 2200 photographs).
B. A QR Code allowing the visitors of each monument to connect directly to the digital platform.
C. Ten recommended pilgrimage itineraries (map and monuments, thematic itineraries and navigation):
1. Municipality of Athiainou
2. Pano and Kato Lefkara
3. Mari – Kalavasos – Tochni
4. Holy Monastery of Agios Minas – Kato Drys
5. Vavla – Lageia – Ora
6. Alethriko – Alaminos – Menogeia
7. Mosfiloti – Holy Monastery of Agia Thekla
8. Kornos – Delikipos
9. Agios Theodoros – Skarinou
10. Choirokoitia - Psematismenos - Maroni
D. A book entitled “Holy Bishopric of Trimythous: Pilgrimage Itineraries in Larnaca Province” is published in Greek and English language for the promotion and dissemination of the Digital Platform. The book is included in the Digital Platform.
Ε. The Digital Platform is hosted by the official website of the Bishopric of Trimythous.
The objective of the Program and this collaborative effort is to provide an insight into Christian culture and the spiritual roots of our country, as well as to highlight the precious ecclesiastical traditions we have inherited from our ancestors. The fragment of the True Cross, which was brought to Cyprus by Saint Helena, the churches dating from the 6th to the 21st century, as well as the significant portable icons, wall paintings, manuscripts and incunabula, wood carvings (such as iconostasis, icon holders, pulpits etc.), silversmith artefacts, embroidery, etc., all these witness and testify both a Christian history and a religious tradition of more than 1500 years. The list of examples and the wealth of valuable information content in the Digital Program allows a glimpse of the importance, the significance, as well as the possibilities presented for “Religious Tourism - Pilgrimage Itineraries” in Larnaca province.
At the same time, it promotes the Christian, spiritual, cultural, artistic, and ecological education of the people of Cyprus, of Europe and beyond. The Program promotes the education of European citizens on the basis of the fundamental, universal and timeless Evangelical values, such as faith, ethics, virtue, respect to diversity, critical thinking, dialogue, the uniqueness and sanctity of the human person. It also emphasizes the importance of the natural environment and lifelong learning and education. We are confident, therefore, that this unique and original Digital Program not only proposes pilgrimage itineraries, but it also opens up new spiritual horizons, thus becoming a reason for many to follow this example.
We have the great honour and blessing to be the descendants and heirs, bearers, and at the same time trustees of a priceless living ecclesiastical, historical and liturgical tradition, the importance of which exceeds temporal, qualitative and quantitative limits. It is both our responsibility and duty, therefore, to be apprentices of this tradition. With faith, reverence, fear and love of God, let us come as true pilgrims and be immersed in the historical wealth of our Christian culture.
This was the tradition that gave birth and nurtured the patron saint and protector of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous, Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker, Saints Athanasios Pentaschoinitis and Fotios of Athiainou, as well as Saint Neophytos the Recluse -a native of Lefkara-, the icon painter Loukas Tochnitis, high-priests, priests, virtuous monks and laity, teachers, modest, honest people of God and the Gospel of every age and gender.
Acknowledgments
The project is the outcome of synergies and fruitful collaboration between various organisations and experts. The Office of Ecclesiastical Ministry of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous, which was the leading partner and had the responsibility for the creation and implementation of the Digital Program, expresses its warmest of thanks to the partners-contributors to the project:
• Chrinonet Ltd Web-design/development company, Reverend Father Christos Papasiantis and Mr. Chrysovalantis Efthymiou for the Digital Program, the map and the itineraries, the technical support, the creation and implementation.
• Dr. Eleni Prokopiou (Archaeologist) and Dr. Marina Toumpouri (Art historian-Byzantinist) for authoring the texts in Greek.
• Dr. Marina Toumpouri for the translation of the Greek texts into English.
• Mathaios Mathaiou for proofreading the Greek version of the text.
• Christakis Christoforou, “Photo Lysis” Larnaca, for the photographs of the monuments and the relics.
• Larnaca and Famagusta District Development Agency for the approval of the funding proposal and the fruitful cooperation for its implementation, as well as the coordinator of the LEADER Program Evangelos Kepolas.
• Our partner, the Women Association of Rural Larnaca (WARL).
• Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Economics and Development Section, Payments Authorization Unit), and Eleni Mytilinaiou, Agricultural Officer A, responsible for the implementation of the LEADER Measure of the Rural Development Plan 2014–2020.
• Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organization.
• “En Typois” publishing house and Voulla Kokkinou for the layout of the book.
Finally, we give glory to Gift-Giver God from the bottom of our heard for the completion of the present Program. We extend a warm vote of thanks to the unseen heroes: His Eminence, the Bishop of Trimythous Mr. Barnabas, the staff of the Office of the Ecclesiastical Ministry of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous, the priests, the members of the church committees and the volunteers and collaborators of the municipalities and villages of our Bishopric; those are the tireless, humble, vigilant guardians and successors of the great and glorious living Christian tradition.
Archim. Gregorios Ioannides
Head of the Office of Ecclesiastical Ministry of the Holy Bishopric of Trimythous
Associate Professor, Theological School of the Church of Cyprus