Agia Marina Chrysochous

"The new village of Ayia Marina is located in a plain and it is about 3-4 kilometres away from the sea at Polis Chrisohous." 

 














 

Guide By area --> Agia Marina

 

Agia Marina

 

HISTORY OF AGIA MARINA CHRYSOHOUS

Agia Marina is a village of Paphos. It is situated 14km northeast of Poli Chrysochous and it is built in an average altitude of 190 meters. On the west side of the village a plain lays near the sea and it is full of irrigated cultivations. The motorway of Poli Chrysochous-Pachiammos passes along this area. Before the Turkish invasion the road led to Morphou and Nicosia. The peaks and the cols of the mountains emerge on the east side of the community. Some of the slopes are full of pines and some others are completely nude, revealing the afforestation which was made in the area. The small distance between the mountains and the sea creats a picturesque landscape.
In 1965, a barrier was built near the village. It is called barrier of Agia Marina and its capacity reaches the 311.000 cubic meters. The new irrigation system of Poli Chrysochous will contribute to the irrigation of a great extent of ground.
The main cultivations of the village are citrus fruits, some vegetables, bananas and fruit trees. The population of the village in 1881 was 102 people. In 1921 the population had increased to 145 inhabitants and in 1960 they became 545. The population including the inhabitants of“Kato Yialia”, which was a village near Agia Marina, reached the 582 in 1982. The last census conducted in Cyprus showed that the population of the village had increased to 687. Almost all the people who live in Agia Marina work in other villages or cities, but at the same time they are occupied with the agriculture.
In older times, the village was situated in the area of the old church of Agia Marina near the woods. At the end of the English occupation, the English pretended that they wanted to protect the forest from the inhabitants and the animals. Thus, they convert the woods to lots and sold the land to the villagers. This is how the village was “transferred” from its first location. According to an old tradition, the plague was dispersed in the area but Saint Marina eliminated it before it killed the inhabitants of the viallge. Thus, the villagers decided to give the name of the saint to the village because she helped them to fight against the disease.
The village is known as Agia Marina Chrysochous so that it is distinguished from the other villages with the same name.

CHURCHES / CHAPELS

Ayia (Saint) Marina Chapel
At a distance of about three to four kilometres from the new village of Ayia Marina lies the old church of Ayia Marina, which was built in 1890. Today it serves as the community’s chapel.
Nearby the chapel there used to be a small village called Leivadi. In 1952, the English government moved the inhabitants of this village to Morfou, building a house for each family. This is how the area of Neo Leivadi Morfou was formed. The area of Palaio Leivadi Pafou was disappropriated and deserted. Few inhabitants, however, who did not wish to move to Morfou, took what was rightfully theirs and built the area where the new village of Ayia Marina lies today. About 45 families moved from the mountain slope of the old village of Ayia Marina to wards the sea, to a beautiful low land where the village lies today. In the old village, the only things left to see are the church, which serves as a chapel today and the priest wife’s kiln.
The chapel, which was built at the centre of the village, is now 3-4 kilometres away from the new village of Ayia Marina. The village’s cemetery is located in the parvis of the church and funerary services are still carried out. The cemetery has a rectangular shape and an arched roof. It is built out of stone and it is painted white on the outside. The width of the external walls is about 60-70 centimetres. The belfry is new, and it is really high and vaulted. At a distance of about 100 metres from the chapel, you come across to the holy water of Ayia Marina.
Internally, the church is flat and it is divided from the main church by a wooden iconostasis, which was recently made. The iconostasis is framed by six icons. Above these icons, a narrower cincture includes miniatures of ten other icons. The iconostasis has two portals, the so-called beautiful portal and the north portal. The chapel has four icons that are very old. These icons used to decorate the chapel since 1890 and were transferred to the new church of Ayia Marina.
Mass takes place 4-5 times a year. On the 17th of July, Ayia Marina is celebrated and the whole community comes to the chapel to honour the patron Saint. The vespers on the 16th of July are celebrated at the new church of Ayia Marina.



New Church of Ayia Marina
The new village of Ayia Marina is located in a plain and it is about 3-4 kilometres away from the sea at Polis Chrisohous. Because of its privileged location, the village has developed during the last years and today it has eight hundred inhabitants.
The church dedicated to Ayia Marina was built at the centre of the village with the help and contribution of all the inhabitants. The church was dedicated to Ayia Marina in 1959. It is quite big and it can receive up to three hundred people. It has a rectangular shape and an arched roof.
Externally, the church is built out of stone and it is painted white. The parvis is quite big and its floor has been recently paved with slabs. The church is surrounded by a wall. The belfry is high and vaulted and it is built at the east side of the church, abutting on the church.
Once you get in the church, you will admire the frescoes decorating the whole church. The frescoes depict Saints, Christ and Virgin Mary. The iconostasis adds to the church’s splendour. It is engraved in a unique way and it is made out of walnut-wood. It has two portals the so-called beautiful portal and the northern portal. The iconostasis is decorated by eight icons. A second, narrower cincture includes fourteen miniature-icons. There are four icons, which are very old, possibly a hundred years old and are kept in the church’s sanctuary. The church also has two wooden Psalters, which were recently made. The icon depicting Ayia Marina is stands in a special iconostasis that is at the end of the left side of the church’s iconostasis.
The church is built on one level, thus it does not have a women’ loft. The feast day of Ayia Marina is celebrated on the 16th of July and either the eparch or the bishop is present. During this day, the whole community arranges for a blood-donation to take place in the church’s hall.

 

Sources:  http://www.agiamarinachrysochous.org