A few hundred metres before the entrance of the village Anogira, there are ruins of the Monastery of Timios Stavros of Anogira on the right hand of the road.
The Holiness of the village began in the paleochristian years, since there are remains from two triple aisled Basilicas of that period, as well as ruins of an ancient settlement that as it is believed belong to the “Country of Anogira”.
During the 14th century, next to the two basilicas, a Byzantine Church was built. It was single aisled and vaulted, with a dome.
For some reasons the Cypriot Government is not going further in the excavations of the area of the deserted Monastery. The Department of Antiquities has not taken any measures of preservation and protection of the area. Even the keys of the only construction still standing, the Church of Timios Stavros are found left on a stone. This is unacceptable.
Sheep are wandering around freely in the Holy place, accelerating the destruction of the constructions.
The tradition of the area says that the Monastery was very rich. The monks that lived in it, ate with gold spoons. What happened to this wealth and why it got abandoned by the Monks, remains unknown. What is certain, is that the Cross that has a piece of the Holy Cross that Agia Eleni brought to our island and was present in the Church, has been transferred to the “House of the Lord”, that being Omodos, in the Monastery of Timios Stavros.
Another tradition says that the “Country of Anogira” or as the Romans called it the “Country of Onogira” belongs to the Late Bronze Age and that in the area of the Monastery, during the Hellenistic period of the island, there was a great Temple in the honour of Zeus.
All of this will be either debunked or confirmed, if the competent authorities go on with excavations.
