Ayios Savvas, Nicosia

A still more interesting fragment is a gilded panel about 1 m by 50 cm, on which is painted a remarkable portrait of a personage dressed in furred robes, and with a large cap of an Eastern type on his head.

This personage is represented in a sitting or kneeling attitude, whilst the gilded background is covered with an inscription in elegant medieval lettering of considerable length.

This panel is an excellent example of the very rare, ex-voto intended to occupy a place alongside of the usual pictures of the saints on the iconostasis.

Other examples of the 16th century ex-voto with portraiture of donors may be seen on the iconostasis of Chrysaliniotissa church, Nicosia, but this one of St. Savvas is remarkable for the absence of any saintly figure on the panel.

In the centre of the church is a large gravestone without any trace of effigy or inscription, and strangely placed lengthwise north and south instead of in the more customary manner east and west.

Ayios Savvas Church