Maintenance at Saint Charalambos church in Akanthou complete

Maintenance work at the Saint Charalambos church near the Famagusta village of Akanthou has been completed, bicommunal Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage co-chairman Sotos Ktoris said on Thursday.

The church is the latest cultural monument on the island to undergo maintenance work, which has been implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the European Union.

According to Christian tradition, Saint Charalambos prayed before his execution that God grant that the place where his relics would repose would never suffer famine or disease.

Accordingly, the Akanthou villagers of the past believed that the saint would protect and cure animal diseases, especially those involving cattle.

Local tradition states that the church was built on the site where a farmer’s two daughters died of the plague while they were ploughing a field.

Legend says the plague then spread to the village of Akanthou and then to other Cypriot villages.

It is said that after the plague, the villagers built the church and dedicated it to Saint Charalambos.