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Chapel of Panagia tis Galoktistis

The chapel is located on a height between the villages of Kato and Pano Pyrgos. According to the elderly residents of the village, the name Galoktisti was given because the chapel was built using milk (Galoktisti in Greek means “built with milk”). The Department of Antiquities undertook the gentrification of the chapel two or three year ago. What is worth mentioning is that preserved in the interior of the chapel are hagiographies which are dated back to the 12th and 14th centuries. In fact, the chapel constitutes one of the oldest chapels of Cyprus. According to testimonies given by the residents of the village, a village known as “The little village” used to be built on the land where the chapel stands today and that little village was mostly inhabited by shepherds. What we have learnt about the residents of that little village is that a great disease infected their sheep one year and for this reason they prayed to Virgin Mary to heal them. Virgin Mary did help them and they built Her Church using milk. Several miracles are linked to the Chapel of Panagia (Virgin Mary). One of the miracles narrated in the village is about a family who came from the village of Potamos Tou Kampou. This family came to the chapel with their donkey to pray to Panagia Galoktisti because the mother could not produce any milk to lactate her baby. As soon as they prayed, milk started pouring out of the mother’s breast. 

Additionally, in the old years, when Christians wanted to pray to God for something, they used to invocate all night holding the icon of Virgin Mary. Once, they fell asleep and when they woke up they noticed that the icon of Virgin Mary was missing and they started crying because they thought that the Turks had stolen it. Later, when they returned to the chapel, they found the icon there surrounded by water, holy flowers and lit candles.

Ever since, this icon is located at the church of Saints Constantinos and Eleni in the centre of our village for security reasons. 

 
 

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