According to the prevailing tradition on the mountain of Stavrovouni was a pagan temple. The tradition is supported both by the fact that the former name of the mountain was Olympos. Two limestone statues discovered on the precinct of the present Monastery furnish additional evidence in support of this view. According to the most prevailing opinion, this pagan temple was dedicated to Olympian Zeus.

After many adventures St Helena found the three crosses of Our Lord and the two thieves, as well as the Holy Nails of Our Lord’s Crucifixion during her voyage in Palestine at 326 – 328. According to tradition, which has retained its strength down to this day, the blessed empress was compelled by a tempest to seek refuge on the southern shores of Cyprus while journeying by ship from Palestine to Costantinople with the intention of transporting the sacred symbols of Christ’s Passion and the thieves’ crosses to the imperial capital. According to the same tradition Cyprus was then suffering from a terrible drought, which had caused plagues. Poisonous snakes had also overrun the island.

An angel of the Lord appeared before St Helena at this time and told her that it was the will of

The main occupations of the monks during this period were farming and stock breeding in the various dependencies in the vicinity of the Monastery. The English visitor Alexander Drummond (1745) mentioned that ‘the various holdings of the Monastery are now cultivated by thirty persons, who serve before the sacred altar or around it’.

There is testimony for the co-existence of the Greek Orthodox and Latin monks within the confines of the Monastery from 1521 to 1570. It appears that the Church of Rome, which governed the Monastery in commendam, wished to exercise direct supervision also through the dispatch of regular clergy there as its representatives. Despite this, the monks resident there, for according to traveler’s’ accounts they had a separate side-chapel from the Latins for their worship.

In the nineteenth century the Monastery suffered serious financial difficulties as well as a dearth of manpower. Even in these difficult times, however, God provided for the pressing needs of the Monastery, and in particular for the renovation of its buildings.

The long-suffering Cypriots, who had not been at all consulted regarding this transfer, accepted this event initially with joy and optimism. The joy of the Greek Cypriots and their hopes for a better future, along with their long-held desire for union with the metropolitan Greece found expression in the addressing speeches of Archbishop Sofronios and Bishop Chrysanthos Oikonomides of Kition, who welcomed the first British governor of the island in 1878. Unfortunately these expectations were soon dashed, the unfortunate Cypriots realizing early on that the British annexation would signal the beginning of new trials for Cypriots.

Some topics in this essay:
St Barbara, Monastery Monastery, Greek Cypriots, Holy Cross, Monastery Simple, Piria Latin, Abbot Barnabas, War Independence, Church Rome, True Cross, holy cross, monastery holy cross, monastery holy, true cross, st helena, elder barnabas, pagan temple, monks monastery, orthodox monks, piece true cross, abbot daniel, dionysios b’, monks monastery holy,