‘No evidence of vandalism’ at Saint Phanourios cave

The Turkish Cypriot Kyrenia municipality on Thursday said there was “no evidence of vandalism” found at the historic Saint Phanourios cave.

A spokesperson for the municipality told the Cyprus Mail that following media reports that the cave, which is located near the Kyrenia district village of Ayios Georgios and is a holy site for Orthodox Christians, had been vandalised, a team had been dispatched to inspect the site.

“When they got there, they found no problem whatsoever. The holy icons were neatly placed, and there was no damage to the site at all,” the spokesperson said.

They added that teams had then cleaned the site’s surroundings and sent the Cyprus Mail a photograph of the cave.

Earlier in the week, photographs had circulated of holy icons depicting important figures in Christianity strewn across the cave’s floor, with one member of the public reporting that used condoms were also found and that the walls had been marked.

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported on Wednesday that one person who visited the cave recently said they had been “confronted with an image of shame and a profound insult to the Orthodox faith, and especially to the memory of Saint Phanourios”.

Kyrenia’s Greek Cypriot mayor-in-exile Joseph Violaris had expressed fury at the reports and demanded an investigation.

“We certainly condemn these actions. We want them to be investigated,” he told CNA, adding that while this is something which “could also have happened” in the Republic of Cyprus, there may have been ulterior motives behind the incident.

“It may have been organised, just as I understand that the arrest of the five Greek Cypriots as a retaliation for Aykut was organised,” he said.

Israeli property developer Simon Aykut was arrested by the Republic of Cyprus’ authorities last year and remains in custody, standing accused of developing and selling €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north.

According to Greek orthodox tradition, when Saint Phanourios was being pursued by the Saracens, he swam on his horse from Anatolia to the site near Ayios Georgios, where his horse died.

He then hid in the cave and was as such saved from his enemies.

The cave was later dedicated to him, and became a pilgrimage destination, while the church which sits above it was built in 1973.

At the cave’s entrance, there are fossilised bones, which are, according to tradition, the remains of Saint Phanourios’ horse.

Meanwhile, scientists believe the bones may have belonged to a pygmy hippopotamus.