Agios Mamas Church

Nicosia (Lefkosia)


The somewhat forgotten site of the 16th-century Gothic church of Agios Mamas is like an exercise in nonstarters: it was never finished in the first place, and today the roofless walls and arches built in retrograde Lusignan style have a heady sense of nostalgia about them. The isolated ruins are in the deserted village of Agios Sozomenos, a once-thriving village that was abandoned due to intercommunal conflict in 1964. Now, the slumping remains of the mudbrick houses are a poignant reminder of a lost era.

The church and village can be reached from Nicosia on the A1, taking exit 6 (for Potamia) and going on to a minor, paved road about 2km before Potamia, following the sign for Agios Sozomenos.