PANAGIA ANGELOKTISTI CHURCH

This Greek Orthodox church (Ιερός Ναός Παναγίας Αγελόκτιστης/Ieros Naos Panagias Angeloktistis) is home to an exceptional ^6th-century gold mosaic. As such, it has been on Unesco's World Heritage Tentative List since 2015. The church, whose epithet Angeloktisti means "built by angels", was built in the early ^11th century, shortly after the Byzantine reconquest of Cyprus, which had been in Arab hands since the ^7th century. It was built on the site of a^5th-century basilica, then modified until the ^14th century. A number of ancient decorative elements remain, in particular the famous mosaic. This depicts the Mother of God Hodigitria ("showing the way") on a golden background, surrounded by the archangels Gabriel and Michael. This is the earliest known depiction of Mary standing, holding the Christ child in her left arm. Its value also lies in the fact that most of the works in old Byzantine churches were destroyed during the iconoclastic period of the 8th^{and 9th} centuries. The Virgin's gaze and the care taken with the decoration make this a particularly powerful work. The archangels' wings are made of peacock feathers, a bird symbolizing rebirth and eternal life in early Christian art. They carry a specter and offer the Mother of God a globe surmounted by a cross, symbolizing the domination of the world by Christ and his Mother.