Syngrasi, Cyprus. Conservation work on the Ayios Prokopios church in the village of Syngrasi, near Trikomo, is underway, technical committee on cultural heritage co-chairman Sotos Ktoris said. He said the committee’s advisory body visited the village and the church on Wednesday to inspect the site.
Site history and architectural features
The church was built on the ruins of an early Christian basilica dating to the sixth century. Parts of the basilica, including its marble floor, survive and were incorporated into the church’s modern design during renovations carried out in the 1950s.
The modern structure is believed to date from the 11th or 12th century, with experts citing the irregular cylindrical dome and the apse as evidence of the period in which it was built.
Village demographics and displacement
Syngrasi was a mixed village until 1964, when intercommunal conflict led much of its Turkish Cypriot population to flee to nearby villages, including Ayios Iacovos, and to the town of Famagusta.
A small number of the village’s Turkish Cypriot inhabitants returned in 1968, with most of the remainder returning in 1974, and a small number of families from Turkey’s Samsun province joining them in 1976.
The village’s Greek Cypriot population was displaced in August 1974.
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