Work has started on the construction of a huge new controversial cathedral next to the archbishopric in Nicosia that has been opposed by environmental groups and many residents of Nicosia’s old city.
Bulldozers have moved into the area to prepare the ground for the construction of the project, the brain-child of Archbishop Chrysostomos who previously branded opponents politically motivated “cry-babies”.
The cathedral will be dedicated to the founder of the Church of Cyprus, Saint Varnavas, and was deemed necessary by the archbishop because the Saint John cathedral, built in 1662, could no longer serve the town.
The cost of phase one of the new church complex, which will include underground parking and “the biggest square within the walls in Nicosia”, is estimated at €4m.
Under the altar of the new church, Chrysostomos said in June, will be the tombs of former archbishops, and next to the graves there will be a crypt where all “valuables of the archbishopric would be kept”.
The initial plans for a 26-metre high cathedral were scaled down to 22 metres, following their initial rejection by the municipality’s aesthetics committee.
It is designed to fit between 600 and 800 churchgoers, while underground parking will be available for 150 cars.
Opponents to the cathedral project – some of whom protested and heckled councillors during a tetchy meeting in 2008 when the plan was narrowly approved – have long argued that the planned structure would increase the load on an already heavily burdened area and greatly add to traffic problems. From an environmental and structural point of view, the project would alter the walled city’s aesthetic, cultural and historic character.
Dismissing the criticism, Chrysostomos said the new cathedral was “a victory for Nicosia” and would be “a jewel in Nicosia’s crown”.
“Nicosia wants a cathedral – everyone should understand that. I like to believe that the whole problem was politically motivated. Don’t tell me that those kids who were there at the town hall shouting know better than I or the architect whether the church is Byzantine or not. Don’t tell me that those cry-babies who were there know better than I do,” he said at the time.
Referring to the protesters as members of EDON (AKEL’s youth movement), Chrysostomos said: “The kids were wound up and sent there, in the same way that a few self-appointed middlemen get wound up and then tell us what to do.”
Initial work at the area had unearthed antiquities. According to the antiquities department those that cannot be moved will remain as part of the site and will not be disturbed.
The building materials will fit in with the area and there will be no surrounding wall. The first phase is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.
