THE PLANNED cathedral in the old city of Nicosia is not an endeavour of vanity, Archbishop Chrysostomos said yesterday.
“We want to build a beautiful temple so that the Church of Cyprus will not have to feel embarrassed every time we host a foreign dignitary,” the Church leader said yesterday during a presentation of the project at the old Archbishopric building.
The Byzantine-design cathedral is to be built close to the Archbishop’s Palace in the old town, and an application has been filed with Nicosia Municipality in order to obtain planning permission.
The initial proposed height of the temple was 26 metres but this was later scaled down to 22.3 metres. The finished temple will feature a dome 14m in diameter. Overall the plans for the area, that include the Archbishopric itself, also call for underground parking for 150 cars, a gallery and the conversion of two existing churches into museums.
From its inception, the plan has come under fire from the Cyprus Architects Association (CAA), concerned that cathedral will be a scar on the old town, which the state has declared an ancient monument.
“The density of the old town’s narrow, winding streets does not lend itself to building a church of the proposed size and use,” read a statement released by the CAA last week.
But both Chrysostomos and Meletiou architects, who have been assigned the design, yesterday countered that on the contrary the project would revitalize the area. Moreover, the planned expansion would help alleviate congestion by rerouting traffic around the maze of cul-de-sacs and one-way streets.
“The new cathedral will not be a shocking monolith or an ugly blot on the landscape. And if any antiquities are discovered during the course of construction works, rest assured that we won’t dig there,” a business-like Chrysostomos said.
In terms of sheer size, Nicos Meletiou said the planned cathedral does not even come close to rivalling behemoth constructions such as St. Paul’s Cathedral or St. Savvas’ cathedral in Budapest.
Not only that, but attention has been paid to the slant of the cathedral, built at angles like a pyramid, so that it does not block the view of neighbouring houses, Meletiou was keen to stress.
And what will the Church’s jewel in the crown be called?
“We had a name in mind, but unfortunately it has been ‘reserved’ by another church. We haven’t decided on the name yet…but we’re open to ideas,” Chrysostomos said.
