MONASTERY OF PANAGIA KANAKARIAS

This foremost religious monument of Cyprus is the katholikon of an old monastic complex in the occupied village of Lythrangomi in Karpasia. The present church is a vaulted basilica with a dome that incorporates sections of an older early Christian basilica. It was world-famous for its priceless mosaics of the 6th century, which were violently detached and stolen by antiquities smugglers after 1974, only to be repatriated years later after legal battles. Although the complete conservation and restoration of the church was recently completed, its location in the occupied zone makes the free celebration of sacraments impossible