Church of Saint Therissou

This small, single-aisled vaulted church is built on the northern coastline of Karpasia, a few kilometers east of occupied Gialousa. The church was erected right above the carved natural cave where Saint Therissos practiced asceticism, who served as Bishop of Karpasia, with the northern wall of the structure incorporating the very rocks of the cave. On the underground level, to which stone steps lead, gushes to this day the famous therapeutic holy spring (agiasma) of the Saint, which through the ages is considered miraculous for the healing of skin ailments. Because of the Turkish occupation since 1974, the church remains cut off from the majority of the faithful, although further west of this ruined little chapel rises a newer, large church of 1911.