Vyzakia

The church of Agia Aikaterini was built between 1884 and 1894 AC. Later some other rooms were manufactured also. The belfry of the church was built in 1925. The church was renovated in 1994 by Mr.Kyriacos A. Kyriacou.

The icon of Agia Aikaterini that is found in the church is a hagiography of 1884. It does not exist any similar icon in other homonym churches. It is considered miraculous due to the fact that the old residents of the village report a lot of miracles concerning this icon.

It is manufactured with stones from the river, with white hard stones from the region and few lightweight stones at certain points. It consists from five arches and the rooms.

The church was consecrated by the most reverend Metropolitan of Morfou Chrysantho A' (Sariyianni) on the 11th of June.

The life of Agia Aikaterini

Agia Aikaterini was born in Alexandria of Egypt. She was from a rich and aristocratic roman family. Her family was a royal one. At small age she began to study Greek and Roman writers. She learned the foreign languages of the season and she was discussing philosophical subjects with various wise men and scholars. At the age of 20 she was already a recognized personality. Except from her enormous intellectual and social education, she was beautiful also. She acquired however many proposals of marriage from rich young persons because her interests were located in the intellectual life.

The study of the Gospel and her contacts with concealed partisans of Christianity forced her to follow the Christian religion and to declare obviously her faith. It was the time when persecutions against the Christians had burst out and the sovereign of Egypt Maximinos was worried when he heard that Agia Aikaterini became a Christian, because he knew the she had influence on the population of Alexandria. He tried to dissuade her by sending to her initially 50 wise men of the season. However the discussion they had with Agia Aikaterini resulted to dissuade themselves. After that Maximinos killed the wise men and put Agia Aikaterini in prison.

Then they made to her too many horrible tortures. One of them was the wheel that had thorns on it and they were turning it on the body of Agia Aikaterini in order to flay her skin. The horrible tortures of beating and the wheel affected only her body without affecting her soul and spirit. After the tortures, Maximinos seeing how deep her faith was, ordered to decapitate her. This was done in 307 AC.

Her horrible death became source for legends and popular traditions. Egyptian Christians found her relic during the 8th century on the mountain Horiv and it was transported to the homonym abbey at Sina Mountain. Our church nominated Agia Aikaterini as a martyr and honors her memory on the 25th of November. She is considered protector of philosophy and education.

The Byzantine painters of hagiographies painted her with a broken wheel and a sword with blood that symbolize her tortures. They also painted her with a branch from a date-palm tree and a book in her hand, symbols of her wisdom.

It is said that Agia Aikaterini came to Cyprus. This happened during the season where her father died. She was led at her uncle that lived here. When however her uncle was informed that she had kissed the Christian religion, he firstly put her in prison and afterwards he sent her back to Alexandria.

When Agia Aikaterini studied and kissed the Christian religion she rejected the marriage proposals made by rich young persons of the season, by saying to her parents that she wanted to marry Christ. One evening, she saw in her dream the Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. She said to him that she is devotional to him. The Christ then, put a ring on her finger and said to her that she married him. That moment everything was dark around her and she woke up. When she had seen the ring on her hand she believed that her dream was real.