The Throne of Our Lady
By: opoudjis | Post date: July 7, 2023 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Greece
The mountaintop of Troodos was a religious site long before Makarios chose to be buried here: it is Throni tis Panagias, the Throne of Our Lady, site where the icon of the Virgin Mary was miraculously discovered, which Kykkos Monastery was built around of 1000 years ago.
(And yes, as I discussed at length with my old schoolmate Konrad Talmont-Kaminski, that kind of thing happens a lot in Orthodox tradition.)
The walkway up to the Shrine has been refurbished in the past couple of decades, with disconcertingly bright new mosaics of sundry Saints signposting the way. Including St John Lampadistes, fresh from Kalopanayiotis. Fresh-faced too.
The final mosaics, in the doors of the Shrine itself of the Throne of Our Lady, date from 2017, and the alcove of Saints leading up to it, looking decidedly Late Western Roman Empire, were put up in the decade leading up to it.
It is opulent, and it is showy, and it is definitely not understated. I have heard dark muttering about Russian money and Russian piety contributing to making the shrine look like it does.
But it is a fit for 2020s Cyprus. For better or worse.
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