On the 29th of January 2022, we crossed the check point into the Turkish-occupied side of the island of Cyprus.
We Traveled from the village of Derynia and would make our first stop at the historical monastery of the apostle Barnabas.
The Northern part of Cyprus has been occupied since 1974 when the Turkish government,
with the support of Western Powers, invaded and purged the region of almost all Christian inhabitants.
Until 2004 no Greek Cypriot could even visit the Northern half, and even today, no Greek Cypriot from the south can live here.
We should also tell you that Fr. Panayiotis was 17 years old when he and his family,
along with thousands of Cypriots, were forced out of their homes by the Turkish onslaught.
For him each visit only opens a wound that can never fully heal, he only ever visits to show outsiders the plight of Cyprus
In this very special episode of Neither Here Nor in Jerusalem,
we will give you a glimpse into a place that has been forgotten by most of the world,
a place that was defiled and desecrated and was never allowed to heal
We also sat with his eminence Metropolitan Vasilios of Ammochostos
so he could tell us about the significance of his Metropolis and the history of Cyprus.
Yes, our Metropolis is placed in a very crucial area of Cyprus
I always say that in the district, the jurisdiction of my Metropolis, we have two important references
and as I say, these are the two lungs of Cyprus, the Greek, and the Christian
The Greek one is Salamis, Constantia, and the Christian one is the monastery of Apostle Barnabas and the tomb of Saint Barnabas
The monastery of the apostle Barnabas was built in the 5th century by Roman emperor Zeno under the oversight of archbishop Anthemios of Cyprus.
Since then it was destroyed and repaired at least 3 times.
In 1976, just two years after the Turkish invasion, the last three monks would leave after years of constant harassment and pressure from Turkish authorities.
After the monks left the Pseudo government of northern cyprus, turned the monastery into a museum.
this place which is one of the lungs of Cyprus, as said by his eminence Vasilios, is being held captive to this day
Three Apostles, but mainly we speak of Paul and Barnabas but followed by the evangelist Mark
they came to Cyprus to preach Christianity, and it was the first country outside of Palestine to receive Christianity from the preaching of the Apostles
Apostle Barnabas was originally from Salamis
The first coming out of the apostles they also went to Asia minor and Apostle Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark
and then he was martyred outside of Salamis
In the hippodrome as it is said of the city
and then Mark buried him in the place known today as the tomb of Saint Barnabas
For many centuries the church of Antioch tried to claim Cyprus as part of its ecclesiastic territory,
and despite the decision of the 3rd ecumenical council, these attempts didn’t stop.
Finally in the 5th century When Antioch started to lay claims to Cyprus
apostle Barnabas appeared to the then Bishop of Cyprus Anthemios and told him where to find his relics.
After the finding of the relics of saint Barnabas by archbishop Anthemios
he went to Constantinople; he offered the gospel he found with the relics of Saint Barnabas
he offered it to (Roman) Emperor Zeno and of course, the emperor did nothing else other than to reconfirm the autocephaly of the church of Cyprus
Which was declared by the third ecumenical council which met in Ephesus in 431
After this, the head of the Cypriot Church was elevated to the honor of Archbishop
along with many other honors that only the Archbishop of Cyprus has.
Today Cyprus is among the oldest Autocephalous churches of the Christian Faith
After we finished venerating, we set out to continue our travels.
Our final destination was the holy monastery of Saint Andrew which can be found at the furthest tip of the island.
On the way to the monastery we made several stops at villages to see the condition of the abandoned churches and cemeteries.
The first village we visited is called Ταυρου although today it goes by a different name, one given by the invaders.
Before the invasion, Ταυρου had 311 Christian inhabitants and one Muslim.
After the invasion, the Turkish government repopulated the village with Turks from mainland Turkey.
This Church, dedicated to Saint Sergius, has become a nest for birds and other small animals.
The floor is covered in animal droppings, and it is evident that it was used as a mosque until one was built for the new inhabitants after the invasion.
Before the last inhabitants left in 1976, they must have removed the holy relicts from the holy table in the altar
Like the last village, Koma tou Gialou was also a Christian village before the invasion;
in 1973, it had 818 inhabitants; it is now also populated exclusively by Turks.
The desecration of the cemeteries is amazing to me
And this is the tomb of Andreas Paraskevas and Sotiris Kosta, who were killed by the British in 1956
seventeen years old and twelve years old because they were demonstrating against the British at that time
This cemetery is not an isolated incident; Christian graves throughout the occupied side were desecrated just like this one.
The cemetery of father, Panayiotis's village, was also treated in a similar fashion
We are on our way to the monastery of "Apostolos Andreas" Saint Andreas. At the furthest tip of the peninsula of Karpasia Cyprus
and this is the first time in my life that I'm going I never was able to go before so this is a very special day for me
According to tradition Saint Andrew came to this place and preached Christianity,
when he was done he waited for a ship to pass so he could continue his journey.
When one came they told him they were out of water, to which he replied, follow me,
the captain went with the apostle to a place nearby, and the saint struck the rock with his staff which immediately brought forth water.
The Saint also healed the captain's son of blindness, and he immediately converted to Christianity.
Since then this place has been revered as a holy place.
We were pleasantly surprised by Fr. Zacharias, who was diligently tending to his post.
Fr. Zacharias has been serving at the monastery of Apostle Andrew for 59 years.
He first came here in 1962 and has never left
After the invasion in 1974, against all odds and pressure from the Turks,
he managed to single-handedly keep this sacred place from being confiscated by the Turkish authorities.
I am at the monastery of the Apostle Andrew at the very edge of Cyprus, the northern part of Cyprus.
I almost came here when I was eight years old, but in the end, I couldn't come because there was no space in the car
and finally, finally, I am here; I am so moved.
This is a beloved place for Cypriots they come here on pilgrimages
and it has been in my heart to come here, and I thank God that I am here now
and may Saint Andrew be our protector and support in everything that we do.
This is the spring that the Apostle Andrew revealed to the captain and his crew.
as you can see, it continues to produce fresh, clean, holy water to this very day
We hope that this episode of "Neither Here Nor in Jerusalem" will shed some light on this all but forgotten place.
Cyprus has been bitterly divided for almost 50 years with no end in sight.
This won't be the last time we will visit the occupied side, next time we visit, God willing, we will go to fr. Panayiotis’ village, Marathovounos
Thank you all for watching, we will see you in the next one.