Hestia Group News

Easter is the most important religious event in the Greek Orthodox calendar and if you are on holiday in cyprus or out and about in your Car, you will notice the huge effigies of rabbits, chicks and eggs that decorate most major roundabouts!

The season actually begins 50 days earlier on Green Monday, when Cypriot families head for the countryside to picnic on vegetarian food as they enter the period of fasting which will be broken at midnight on Easter Saturday. Green Monday, or as it’s also known, ‘Clean Monday’ also has a tradition for flying Kites…

Orthodox Easter, is a moveable feast, the same as the Christian Easter, however the date is always set on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox.

The concentration of activity occurs in Holy Week, when housewives bake seasonal specialities in preparation for the feast on Easter Day.  The fasting enters an even stricter vegan phase during this week, when even olive oil is forbidden.  baking takes place with a strictly ‘no tasting’ rule which must be very hard indeed.  The most favourite delicacy is ‘Flaounes’, a pastry filled with a special cheese, eggs and mint.

Spring cleaning is also rife during this week as everything must be made clean and new to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  Houses are whitewashed and scrubbed from top to bottom and new clothes and shoes are an absolute must!

During Holy Week, the general mood becomes more solemn, especially on Good Friday as the death of Christ is mourned.  On this day, flowers are taken to the church to decorate the Holy Sepulcher.  Late Saturday evening, church bells will call the congregation to Mass which everyone in the village will attend and all will carry an unlit candle.  The priest will hold one lighted candle and deliver the sermon.  At midnight it will be declared “Christos anesti” (Christ has risen) and the congregation will reply “Alitho anesti” (Indeed He has risen).  Everyone then lights their candle from the priest’s and the celebrations begin.  Usually a bonfire will be built in the church yard and fireworks will be let off.  Hard boiled eggs that have been dyed red to represent the blood of Christ will be cracked open and eaten, but the real feasting begins on Sunday when Souvla (skewered barbecued pork or chicken) and whole roast lamb or goat will be enjoyed.  The celebrations generally continue for 3 days – yes, there is Easter Tuesday in cyprus!

If you want to experience Cypriot Easter for yourself, head for a rural village where you can witness traditions and celebrations which haven’t changed much in hundreds of years…

Easter is certainly a great time to visit cyprus on holiday, although certain shops and offices will be closed for the bank holidays, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience and want to return next year!

We are extremely excited to bring to the market some excellent new payment terms available for a selection of lovely projects in the Paphos area of cyprus. This is a brilliant opportunity, not only for investors, but also those seeking a permenant or second home – why not take advantage of  10% CASH BACK, you could buy a Car or fully furnish your new property!… Alternatively, you may decide to have your MORTGAGE PAID FOR 2 YEARS (interest only)… Yes, both options are available and we suggest you act quickly to avoid disappointment.

If you have ever considered buying a property abroad, many people investigate an ‘off-plan’ apartment or villa and have the beauty of owning a brand new home in their dream country – Well, you will already be aware that typically you would have to find 30% for the down payment to start with, then meet stage payments / installments during the construction period. These payments will be made either from your own funds or from a mortgage… In any case you have to pay the cost of those borrowings or suffer the loss of interest from those savings for a period of 6, or upto 18 months, even 2 years… 

New to the cyprus market and warrants your serious consideration - we are offering a selection of superb apartments and villas in different locations where you can start with just 10% of the purchase price and defer your mortgage until delivery / completion of the property! It truly is a great opportunity – what are you waiting for?..

Here are some further details of payment plans available;

We have 5 projects which are off-plan / under construction, this includes apartments in Kato Paphos, Tala, Anavargos and close to Sea Caves, along with detached villas in Emba with private swimming pools – for these properties you can chose one of 2 absolutely brilliant payment methods.

METHOD 1 - ‘MONTHLY INSTALMENTS & MONEY BACK BONUS SCHEME’
You pay a 10% initial payment. Plus 10% in equal, interest-free monthly installments to the developer… You pay a further 20% on completion & arrange a 60% bank loan, where the stage payments are made during construction… Provided that all the payments are duly paid on time, you will be eligible for a bonus, MONEY BACK SCHEME OF UPTO 10% of the sale price…
Bank loan notes: Important to note that you pay nothing during the construction period until delivery (not even the interest), then you pay interest only installments for upto 5 years and the remainder of the loan period will be a normal repayment structure.

METHOD 2 - ‘NO MORTGAGE PAYMENTS FOR UP TO THE FIRST 4 YEARS’
You pay a 10% initial payment. Plus 10% after 6 months… You pay a further 20% on completion & arrange a 60% bank loan, where stage payments are met during construction… Provided that all the payments are duly paid on time, the DEVELOPER WILL PAY YOUR MORTAGE FOR THE FIRST 2 YEARS (interest only)… Bank loan notes: Again, nothing to pay during the construction period until delivery (not even the interest), the developer will pay the next 2 years interest payments of your bank loan… You can pay interest only for a further 3 years. The remainder of the load period will be the normal repayments structure.

If you don’t want to wait 12 months or so for your property and prefer something ready or nearly completed, then there is a selection of villas and apartments where you can mortgage upto 80%, again rarely found in the overseas market, you usually would be expected to make a 30% contribution from your own funds…

Here are some more details of the payment scheme;

‘BANK LOAN OF UPTO 80% - LOW DEPOSIT’.  You pay a 10% initial payment. You pay a further 10% on completion & arrange an 80% bank loan… Bank loan notes: The loan is a one-off payment upon delivery date of the property, and then you can pay interest only installments for upto 5 years. The remainder of the loan period will be the normal repayment structure.

If required, mortgages are arranged with a local bank in cyprus. The banking system and procedures are very similar to those in the UK. What’s more, is you have the option to borrow the money with a foreign Currency loan, although the developer will be paid in Euros, you may chose to have a Sterling loan as your income is in Sterling, or you may decide to borrow the funds in Swiss Francs as the interest rates is much lower – in the region of 2%… The banks in cyprus are very pleasant to deal with and extremely efficient, please contact us for further information and any questions you may have.

If you are considering an investment in overseas property, you will struggle to beat this package. invest your savings wisely - were you would usually use all your capital to purchase an apartment or a villa, either outright or with a mortgage. We are suggesting, if you study the figures and chose the best payment method that suits you, perhaps you could afford to buy 2 or more properties?… Say you take the 10% cash back on your first purchase, this will fully furnished and equip 2 places, or sit in the bank to pay your mortgage or ‘x’ months… Then maybe let the developer pay the interest of your mortgage on the second property for 2 years!… With the potential rental income and capital growth, coupled with lower outgoings (remember the developers paying your mortgage), imagine where you could be in 2 years? Doesn’t sound bad to me…

Please click here to see the properties available and more information.
Disclaimer; The details of these special payment methods, any prices, rates, facts and figures are subject to change and are based on information provided by the seller. These details remain subject to verification to the purchaser’s satisfaction from the developer, lawyer or bank.

Whether you live in cyprus, are a regular visitor or it’s your first holiday in Paphos… Eating out, or at least finding somewhere nice and with a good reputation, to suit your taste and your pocket, can be a tricky business. This has just been made a much easier thanks to ‘Paphos Eating’, a new and exciting website (www.paphos-eating.com) which has gone a long way to help you decide where to eat out and enjoy your meals. The website was launched in November 2006 and aims to encourage anyone who has eaten out in the area, to give honest reviews, with the opportunity to air your opinions and also rate each establishment with a number of stars. As there are currently over 500 independent reviews, it makes for interesting reading! Eating places are categorized, i.e. Chinese, Indian, Traditional Cypriot etc, and as we all know, ‘word of mouth’ is the recommendation that most people trust.  Plans for the future include an events calendar, so that you can see what special events eateries have in store.  This is a very informative and useful website for holidaymakers and residents alike and can only get better as more reviews are published.  You can register free and add your own reviews in an instant.  If the thought of trawling a website to find something suitable is not for you, then just go to the ‘Top Ten’ section which gives an up-to-date listing of just that – the current top ten favourite eateries.  With contact numbers and photos, it couldn’t be easier to find the perfect dining experience for you!

Currently the top 10 in March 08 are;

1. Sienna (Chloraka)
2. Gastronomie (Chloraka)
3. Goosefat and Garlic (Sea Caves)
4. Colosseum (Kato Paphos)
5. Flambe Master (Kato Paphos)
6. Viklari (Lara)
7. Taste of India (Kato Paphos)
8. Chloes 2 (Tomb of the Kings)
9. Brasileiro (Kato Paphos)
10. Grazie (Kato Paphos)

Visit their website and share your views of those restaurants featured at www.paphos-eating.com.

Driving around cyprus in your hire Car you will see a huge variety of flowers, bushes, shrubs and trees. One of the more interesting and native to the Eastern Mediterranean region is the Carob Tree. The Carob was highly prized by the Ancient Greeks amongst others, it has been cultivated for at least 4000 years and there are references to it in the Bible.  It has been called ‘St John’s bread’ or ‘locust bean’, and for a time it was thought that this referred to the ‘locusts’ that St John ate during his time in the wilderness.  However, although St John might have found the carob pod more palatable, he did in fact survive on the migratory insect variety!

The seeds of the carob were used as weights measure for gold, hence the name ‘carat’.  In other countries, the seeds have been ground and used as a coffee substitute, but here in cyprus, the ground seeds are made into Carob Honey or ‘charoupomelo’, a sticky, rich confection rather like molasses in consistency and delicious when it is enjoyed with bread or yoghurt and also used to flavour milkshakes.  The honey can be taken a stage further by kneading and stretching until it becomes a golden caramel colour and can be eaten as chewy toffee ‘pastelli’, often covered with sesame seeds.

Technically a legume, the carob is probably best known as a popular cocoa substitute, probably because it has only 1/3 the calories and is virtually fat free!  The ground-up pods are used for this and contain important vitamins and minerals and are used in many health foods.  The pods have also been widely used as animal feed and are relished by goats, pigs, cattle and rabbits, with carob flour being used in dog biscuits.

Remnants of the carob’s place in cyprus history can be found in Limassol next to the Medieval Castle near the old port.  The Carob Mill played a vital part in cyprus economy of the time and the carob became one of the islands’ most important exports.  It became known locally as ‘Black Gold’ and the mill which was originally built as warehouses, became the production centre for carobs where they would be collected, separated into the sub products, and then ground before being carried by donkey to the port nearby for global distribution.  The Mill is now a fascinating collection of restaurants, cafes and shops, and old mill machinery can be found dating from 19th century.

Anyone who has visited cyprus will acknowledge that the Car is the principle means of transport for many people living on the island. Therefore a permanent move will probably force the issue of whether to buy a Car locally or include a UK-owned vehicle as part of the consignment of personal possessions shipped to cyprus. The need for a through examination of the practical and financial implications of making either choice is strongly recommended – and should reflect individual circumstances when considering a move. For example, does your current vehicle have air-conditioning? Is this a feature you would regard as essential in the sun-filled cyprus climate?

Importing a vehicle to cyprus is relatively straightforward although the process required by government bureaucracy can at first appear rather daunting. Even though cyprus has been a full member of the European Union since 2004, you cannot simply ship your Car from the UK to cyprus at will. Specific procedures apply to the movement of certain types of goods between EU member countries - including motor vehicles.

Best advice is to accept that procedures are laid down by the cyprus government – and plan accordingly. However, it pays to do the research well in advance of the planned importation of a vehicle – and ensure that necessary actions are taken and documents produced at the appropriate time and place.

The cyprus government has an informative website which gives details of what needs to be done: http://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/customs/Customs.nsf/CarsLookup?

Currently, the website provides the following guidance:

1. Community status of the vehicle

Goods in free circulation in the EU move from one member state to another without payment of further customs import duty. To be exempt from paying further import duty in cyprus, proof of Community status of the goods must be provided. If you are transferring a Car to cyprus for private use from another member state, you may prove its Community status by producing either a T2L or ?2LF document or the number plates and the vehicle registration document issued by the previous member state.

The T2L or ?2LF document can be obtained from the previous member state Customs Service or through your vehicle supplier or shipper. In case of failure to provide above mentioned proof of vehicle’s Community status, the importation will be classed as having arrived from a third country and the vehicle will be liable to import duty in addition to the excise duty and VAT.

2. Procedure on arrival of the vehicle in the Republic

Certain goods are subject to excise duty, even if they arrive from another member state of the EU. Motor vehicles, in the following categories, are subject to excise duty:

Saloon type vehicles, such as sedan, cabrio, estate, hatchback, coupe, etc;
Jeep-type off-road vehicles (4?4); double cabin cars; vans of tariff heading 87.04 having a gross weight not exceeding 2032 kg and a net cargo space not exceeding 2 m3;
motorcycles having an engine of a cubic capacity exceeding 600 cc.

If you accompany such a vehicle from another member state of the EU, provided it is in free circulation, you may leave the port or airport immediately without any customs procedure. If your vehicle is brought in unaccompanied by ship, you are required to furnish proof of Community status before you are allowed to remove the vehicle from the port.

However, in both cases, you are required to declare the vehicle to the nearest Customs Station within 24 hours from the date of its arrival using form ED5 (in both Greek and English), in order to pay the excise duty and VAT, if the latter is payable. If a public holiday or weekend follows the date of arrival, you must make the declaration on the first working day after the expiration of the 24 hours deadline.

3. Payment of excise duty

You must pay the excise duty due within 10 working days from the date of the vehicle’s arrival in the Republic, unless within this period you opt to either place it in a customs warehouse; send it to another member state of the EU; or export it to a third country.

In order to pay the excise duty, you will have to complete form SAD. If you cannot complete it on your own, you may use the services of a customs clearing agent.

3.1. Calculation of excise duty

The excise duty is calculated on the basis of the capacity of the vehicle’s engine and this is differentiated according to: -

The mass of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the age of the vehicle, the kilometers it has done, its general condition, the type of its transmission, its make and type, in accordance with the reduction rates as fixed in a Notice issued by the Director of Customs.

Using the table below and the differentiations which follow, you may calculate on your own the excise duty on any vehicle.

Vehicles categories:    c.c. / CY£ per c.c.

A) Motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8703 21 – 8703 90 (excluding ambulances and hearses)
0 - 1650   = £ 0.30
1651 - 2250  = £ 2.00
2251 - 3000  = £ 3.50
exceeding 3000 = £ 4.50

B) Motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8704 with two rows of seats, known as “double cabin”, with a maximum Gross Vehicle Weight not exceeding 3,5 tonnes = £ 0.15 per c.c.

C) Van type motor vehicles classified under T.H. 8704 with a Gross Vehicle Weight not exceeding 2032 kgrs and a net cargo area not exceeding 2 cubic meters.
0 – 1450  = £ 0,10
1451 – 1650   = £ 0,25
1651 – 2050   = £ 0,75
2051 – 2250  = £ 0,75
2251 – 2650  = £ 0,75
exceeding 2650  = £ 1,00

An additional excise duty of 1 cent per cc of engine capacity is also imposed.

3.2. Differentiations because of the carbon dioxide

The excise duty for category A is differentiated as follows, according to the mass of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) (combined cycle), as mentioned on a certification issued by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles for used vehicles:

A. For emissions up to 120 gr/km, a 30% reduction
B. For emissions exceeding 120 gr/km but not exceeding 165 gr/km, a 20% reduction
C. For emissions exceeding 165 gr/km but not exceeding 200 gr/km, a 10% reduction
D. For emissions exceeding 200 gr/km but not exceeding 250 gr/km, a 10% increase
E. For emissions exceeding 250 gr/km, a 20% increase

If the above mentioned certification is not produced, the carbon dioxide emissions are considered as exceeding 250 gr/km and the total excise duty payable is increased by 20%, as in case E above.

For the issue of the certification by the Road Transport Department, you may apply to the main offices of the Department at the following address:

Kameris Court 1
17, Vasileos Pavlou,
Nicosia
Phone nos: 22807121 & 22807107
Fax no.: 22354030
E-mail: dirdrt@cytanet.com.cy

3.3. Differentiations of excise duty on used cars

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the customs or other legislation, used cars means those registered in any country. For used cars the total excise duty payable is reduced in accordance with the reduction rates as fixed in a Notice issued by the Director of Customs. To determine the reduction rates, the Director takes into consideration objective criteria, such as the age of the Car, the kilometers it has done, its general condition, its gear box, its make and type.

3.4. Examples how to calculate excise duty

The following examples will help you to better understand how excise duty on vehicles is calculated. In all examples it is assumed that the importer has proved the Community status
of the vehicles.

Example 1

A used saloon vehicle is 9 months old at the time of its transfer to cyprus from the United Kingdom on the 17 November 2006. The cubic capacity of its engine is 1789 cc and the carbon dioxide emissions are 180 gr/km.

The excise duty payable is calculated as follows:

Initial excise duty: 1789 ? £2,00= £3.578

This amount is reduced:
by 10%, because of the carbon dioxide emissions: £3,578 - £357.80 (10%) = £3,220
by 12.36%, because of its age (9 months) and type (sedan) : £3220 - £398 (12.36%) = £2.822
Additional excise duty £0.01/c.c.: 1789 ? £0,01 = £18
Total excise duty payable: £2.822 + £18 = £2840

Example 2

A used cabrio Car is 6 years, 7 months and 10 days old at the time of its transfer to cyprus on 15 November 2006. Its engine cubic capacity is 2499 c.c. and the carbon dioxide emissions are 250 gr/km. The payable excise duty is calculated as follows:

Initial excise duty: 2499 ? £3.50 = £8.746.

This amount is increased by 10% because of its carbon dioxide emissions, i.e. £8.746 + (£875) = £9.621.
The total of the initial excise duty and its increase is reduced by 66.54% because of its age (6 years, 7 months and 10 days) and type (cabrio), i.e. £9.621 – £6.402 (66.54%) = £3.219.
Additional excise duty 2499 c.c. ? £0,01 = £25.

Total excise duty payable: £3,219 + £25 = £3.244.

4. Calculate on your own the excise duty on a vehicle

In its effort to help the public, the Department of Customs and Excise has prepared a simple software program which you can use to calculate the excise duty chargeable on a vehicle. The Department however explained that this software should not be used officially and that the Department of Customs and Excise bears no responsibility for wrong calculations of the excise duty due to wrong data entries or misuse of the software.

5. Information

For more information about the current procedures that may apply to your personal situation and for details of the self-help software to calculate excise duty, contact:

The Director,
Department of Customs and Excise
Corner M. Karaoli and Gr. Afxentiou, Nicosia

The postal address is:
Director of Customs,
Customs Headquarters,
1440 Nicosia.
Fax no: (00357) 22 302 031
E-mail; headquarters@customs.mof.gov.cy

For telephone enquiries you may call the Valuation Section at Customs Headquarters: (00357) 22 601 753 / 22 601 748.

What’s in a name? In cyprus – and Greece - the answer is a great deal.

Unlike the UK, where naming a new-born child may be the result of a whim or a fashion statement according to which pop star is in the ascendancy, in cyprus and Greece it is a serious business rooted in social conventions and family traditions which may go back hundreds of years. Whereas the legacy of Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue or even Prince Harry in decades to come may be many namesakes unrelated to them, in Greece and cyprus, different rules apply!

In Greece (especially Crete) and cyprus (which closely follows the conventions) name days are celebrated in a similar way to birthdays in other cultures. According to the Orthodox Church, every day of the year has been dedicated to the memory of a saint or a martyr from the Holy Bible and Holy Tradition. If someone is named after a saint, then there is a big celebration on his or her name day. Gifts are given, festive meals and desserts are prepared, and (in some parts of Greece) special preparations are made for an open house. Usually, name days are on the same date, every year; these are the non-floating name days. There are some floating name days based on the Orthodox holiday calendar that are on a different date each year.

Naming conventions in Greece and cyprus are still followed quite strictly, with the result that certain names are used for many individuals in a generation. In each generation, the eldest grandson in each family will be named after the grandfather, and the eldest granddaughter will be named after the grandmother. If someone had three children, and they all produce a male grandchild, all three of those cousins will have the same name. To top it all off, all those with the same first name will celebrate the same saint’s Name Day.

The endings of surnames change when used as surnames and differ when applied to men and women. On marriage a man does not change his name; a woman takes:
her husband’s personal name as her middle name; and generally, his father’s personal name as her surname. She could, unusually, use his grandfather’s personal name as her surname. If a man who is using his grandfather’s personal name as a surname marries, his wife sometimes has a different surname.

Many Greeks and Greek Cypriots permanently settled in the UK have adopted a static surname system, in which case the father’s personal name is included as the middle name.

In Greece, you get two birthdays. In Greece, everyone celebrates the “Name Day” of the saint that bears the same name. This usually has no relation to a person’s actual birthday except by coincidence.

Greek names reflect a long history. Because of the naming rules, in some cases the same names have been used in an unbroken line for hundreds of years in a single family, if not longer. Often, these names came into use because of a local association with a saint. For example, on the south coast of Crete, where St. Paul is said to have been shipwrecked nearly two thousand years ago, Pavlos is an extremely common name even among unrelated families. But in the rest of Greece, it’s not often encountered.

The complete celebration of Name Days includes a party. In past times, this was open to literally anyone passing on the street, but most parties these days are by invitation. Obviously, people of the same name will usually know where all the celebrations are. Small gifts are exchanged.

Since the Saint is also having a celebration, everyone will visit any local church named for that same saint, make an offering, and light a candle. The bigger churches will put on the larger festivals, often with free food and drink, but even the smallest of chapels will commemorate their saint’s special day in some way. Many of the little chapels you see in the fields or in remote locations will only be open once a year on the day of their saint. And if the village itself is named for the saint, travellers can count on a terrific party on that day.

The major religion of the Greek Cypriot population is Greek Orthodox.

There are also the smaller religious groups of Muslims, the Anglicans, Roman and Latin Christians, Maronites, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Evangelics, Jews and others including New Life International Church cyprus (Community of Hope), Seventh-Day Adventist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Religion – as epitomised by the Orthodox Church across many centuries - is very firmly woven into the fabric of cyprus society reflecting its power, influence and dominance in the life of the country. This contrasts with the UK, where diverse religious creeds are arguably in greater competition with each other for the religious affiliations of its people.

The religious practices of the Cypriot Orthodox Church compare and contrast significantly to those found within the diverse communities of the broadly Christian type churches of the UK. The service does not use a choir. The balcony, or choir loft, found in most churches is reserved for women and is called the ginekonitis. On the ground level of the church, men usually also sit on one side and women on the other.

The Church of cyprus is an autocephalous church in the Orthodox tradition using the liturgy of mainland Greece. It recognized the seniority and prestige of the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople, while retaining complete administrative autonomy under its own archbishop. The Great Schism, as the split between Catholic and Orthodox became known, had major consequences for the Church of cyprus. Under Lusignan and Venetian rule, the Church of cyprus was pressured to recognize the authority of the Roman pope. The imposed Roman hierarchy attempted to remould the Church of cyprus in the image of the Western church. Under the Muslim Ottomans, Cypriots were no longer considered schismatics, but merely unbelievers and followers of an inferior religion.

As such they were allowed considerable autonomy, and the archbishop was the officially recognized secular as well as religious leader of his community

Under British rule there was an attempt to secularize all public institutions, but this move was bitterly opposed by church authorities, who used the conflict with the state to gain leadership of the Greek nationalist movement against colonial rule. At independence Archbishop Makarios III, a young, Western-educated former monk, was elected president of the Republic, holding this position until his death in 1977. His successor, Archbishop Chrysostomos, was still head of the Church of cyprus at the beginning of the 1990s. He was a conservative leader, both in religious and political matters, well-suited for a church that had never undergone reforms similar to those instituted by the Second Vatican Council for the Roman Catholic Church.

The church had long been composed of four episcopal sees: the archbishopric of Nicosia, and the Metropolitanates of Paphos, Kition, and Kyrenia. New Metropolitanates were created by Makarios in 1973 for Limassol and Morphou, with a suffragan (or assistant) bishop in Salamis under the archbishop. A bishop had to be a graduate of the Orthodox theological seminary in Greece and be at least thirty years of age. Since Orthodox bishops were sworn to a vow of celibacy and parish clergy were usually married, bishops were recruits from monasteries rather than parish churches. Bishops were not appointed by the archbishop, but, like him, were elected through a system granting representation to laymen, other bishops, abbots, and regular clergy.

Individual churches, monasteries, dioceses, and charitable educational institutions organized by the Church of cyprus were independent legal persons enjoying such rights and obligations as holding property. In exchange for many church lands acquired by the government, the government assumed responsibility for church salaries. Parish clergy, traditionally married men chosen by their fellow villagers, were sent for brief training before ordination. In the twentieth century, modernisers, most notably Archbishop Makarios, were instrumental in strengthening the quality and training of priests at the Cypriot seminary in Nicosia

The monasteries of cyprus had always been very important to the Church of cyprus. By the twentieth century many had long lain in ruins, but their properties were among the most important holdings of the church, the island’s largest landowner. Although the number of monks decreased in the postwar era, in the early 1990s there were at least ten active monasteries in the government-controlled areas

In the Orthodox church, ritual was to a great extent the centre of the church’s activity, for Orthodox doctrine emphasises ‘the mystery of God’s grace rather than salvation through works and knowledge’. Seven sacraments are recognized: baptism in infancy, followed by confirmation with consecrated oil, penance, the Eucharist, matrimony, ordination, and unction in times of sickness or when near death.

Formal services are lengthy and colourful, with singing, incense, and elaborate vestments according to the occasion for the presiding priest. Statues are forbidden, but the veneration of icons, located on the church’s walls and often covered with offerings of the faithful, is highly developed. Easter is the focus of the church year, closing the Lenten fasting with an Easter Eve vigil and procession. marriage is a highly ritualized occasion. Formal divorce proceedings are required for broken engagements that have been ratified by the church. The wedding sponsors play an important role in the family, for they usually act as godparents of all children born of that marriage union.

religious observance varies. In traditional rural villages, women attend services more frequently than men, and elderly family members are usually responsible for fulfilling religious duties on behalf of the whole family. Church attendance is less frequent in urban areas and among educated Cypriots. For much of the population, religion focuses on rituals at home, veneration of icons, and observance of certain feast days of the Orthodox calendar.

Details of non-Orthodox church services are published in the English-language newspaper The cyprus Mail / Sunday Mail.