The Tent Chapel that tells a Story

John Holdsworth tells a tale of preservation and regeneration

In the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, July 20th is marked with huge military parades, and is framed as a celebration of how the might of Turkey liberated the island. But the republic to the south marks it in a more sombre way, remembering the huge loss of life and land that occurred in the face of the military operation that began on this day in 1974.

There it is framed as an opportunist attempt by Turkey, using the excuse of political and civil instability caused by an internal coup some five days earlier, to conquer the island. This led to the separation that exists to this day.

This year, to help churchgoers reflect on these events, Fr George Vidiakin, parish priest in Ayia Napa, organised a pilgrimage to a little-known monument in the village of Dasaki Achnas, a few miles away.

In 1974, terrified villagers from areas that stood in the path of the Turkish invasion fled with whatever they could carry. The inhabitants of Achna, a village close to Larnaca, found refuge in the forest close to the British military base at Dhekelia. 60-80,000 ended up there, creating the Dasaki Achnas (Achna Forest) settlement

The centrepiece of this village, and the focus of the pilgrimage, is a chapel in the shape of a tent.

Its main message is to remind people of the tents in which those fleeing from their homes under the pressure of the occupiers lived. At the site of the current ‘chapel,’ a priest used to conduct services in a tent church."

Figures sculpted within the Chapel include a striking feature at the entrance depicting a group of women apparently split in two. Even an icon of one of them is carrying is split. This symbolises the division of the Island.

Another emotive figure is of an elderly woman who may be alive or dead. A third sculpture depicts a mother and child.

Fr George says the tent “expresses the core qualities that characterise Cypriot identity: hospitality, national pride, love for homeland, and solidarity with compatriots. These qualities come fully to life at a critical moment when the country is essentially on the brink of collapse.”

The visit made an obvious impact on the pilgrims. Margaret Charalambides, from Nicosia, said the people who are presented as cut in half were the most moving. “I felt that one half was of someone longing to return home, which was no longer possible, and the other half looking forward to an uncertain future, which must be a terrible feeling."

This article is an abridged version of one first published by the Jerusalem & Middle East Church Association (JMECA). Pictures courtesy of Fr George Vidiakin.