Ecclesiastical Museum  

The Ecclesiastical Museum is housed on the Women’s mezzanine floor of the church of Prophet Elias of Agridia. Displayed in the museum are significant exhibits from the old church of Prophet Elias which was dated back to either the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century, and which was unfortunately demolished so that the new church of the protector Saint of Agridia could be built at its place. Moreover, the museum maintains exhibits originating from chapels that used to be located near the village, such as the chapel of Archangel Michael which used to be built where the football stadium of Agridia is today located, the chapel of Agios Georgios at the location “Stremmata” and the chapel of Agia Paraskevi at the location “Latziero”. Unfortunately, neither of these chapels stands today.    

The exhibits of the Ecclesiastical Museum are the following:

•  A fine iconostasis dated back either to the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th century.
• An icon of Agia Paraskevi dated back to the 16th century. This icon represented the Church of Cyprus in exhibitions overseas, with the most recent ones being the exhibitions in Paris and New York back in the 90s.  
• Silver Sangraals, A Holy Tray and Altar Fans dated back to 1878. 
• Old manuscript books, one of which, the June Monthly, is dated back to the 15th century.
• Significant icons, utensils and vestments. 

Historical Background of the Museum’s establishment 
Regarding the historical background of the Museum, he writes the following: “Unfortunately, after the completion of the new iconostasis, the old one, which had already been dilapidated, was moved to the backyard of the church where it remained for two years until it was accidentally discovered. It was put together piece by piece by Restorer of Antiquities Costas Gerasimou and his team and it now constitutes one of the exhibits which used to be located in our church”. 

The Museum was inaugurated on September 22nd, 1996 by Metropolitan Bishop of Keryneia Pavlos in the presence of hundreds of people. 

What needs to be mentioned is that the project was effectuated after an initiative was taken by the “Prophet Elias” Association of Expatriates of Agridia, which also sponsored the completion of the project. Moreover, there are plans for the present Museum to be rehoused in a safe museum building where it will coexist with the Museum of Popular Art. After all, this idea constitutes one of the proposed projects of the Master Plan of Agridia. 

Olive-Mill

A traditional olive-mill used to be in operation in Agridia up until the 1960s. The olive-mill building, which is located inside the church patio, was renovated and converted to a museum displaying the following:

• The large round stone and its movement leverages that were used to smash the olives.
• The invaluable wooden auger that was used to compress the full of smashed olives nets called “zempilia”. What is noteworthy is that only three augers of this kind exist throughout Cyprus and they were produced in 1850.
• The wooden presser.
• The olive-oil gathering container which helps to separate olive-oil from water.   
• A boiler that was used to boil water which was in turn poured in the “zempilia” so that the olive oil would start flowing.  
• Household utensils and tools that used to be necessary for farmers and which have now become obsolete. 

The historical background behind the conversion of the olive-mill
The Association of Expatriates of Agridia “Prophet Elias”, acknowledging the cultural and financial value of the olive-mill, restored the ruins and renovated the entire building of the olive-mill. In particular, as Yiannakis Peratikos clarifies, “the Association of Expatriates maintained and reinstalled the equipment back to its original position as a gift to the community of Agridia and the future generations.     

The Olive-Mill’s inauguration ceremony was held by the Metropolitan Bishop of Keryneia Pavlos on September 22nd, 1996.  

In the future, there are plans to seal the building walls and roof so that it is protected from humidity, while special lighting will be installed to elevate the beauty of its halls. 

Source:
Yiannakis Peratikos