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Bells taken from St George
Church bells ringing is a common feature of Cyprus life these days and any visitor on holiday in Larnaca Cyprus will certainly have heard them ringing out on Sunday morning.
But the holiday resort has been shocked to hear of bells stolen from two churches in the area recently. Other than the theft of a few religious icons from remote chapels, crimes against church property are virtually unknown in Cyprus.
But thieves snatched bells from two churches in the Larnaca holiday area, near to the Kiti dam, in what police believe was a well planned operation.
Bells were removed from the historic Agios Georgios church overnight and, shortly afterwards, from the nearby chapel of Agios Androicos. It is thought they will melted down and be sold for scrap.
The church to Saint George of Arpera was built in 1745 in Kiti area, just a few kilometers from the famous Angeloktisti Church and near the Kiti dam. The 17th century Byzantine church of the Panayía Angeloktistos has some beautiful early Byzantine mosaics.
The church of St George was built by a Greek, Konstantinos Christofakis, who was the contractor for the Larnaca aqueduct at Kamares.
A fresco inside shows him and all his family offering the church to Saint George to thank him, according to local legend, for successfully completing the difficult aqueduct project.
Very few bell towers were permitted by the Turks in Cyprus before 1857. The occupying Turks generally prohibited such structures for fear that church bells could be used to summon an uprising.
In 1878, after the British took control of Cyprus, churches gained more freedom in religious matters, including a return to the use of bells in churches.
