The Irony of the Only Greek Orthodox Church Dedicated to Saint John Cassian Being in Nicosia

It is ironic that the only Greek Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint John Cassian is located in Nicosia of Cyprus. According to a folk tradition among Greeks, which stems from the fact that Saint John Cassian is only celebrated every four years because his feast falls on February 29th, the binary leap year, he is considered the only officially "unfairly treated" Saint of the Church. It is said that this day was imposed on him because in Paradise he was being "mischeivous" and would disperse "fiery demons" from there. The respected Professor of Modern Greek History at the University of Cyprus, Mr. Petros Papapolyvios, informs us that in modern Greek literature, Georgios Vizyinos (1884) and Christos Christovasilis (1903) refer to this specific punishment. Nicosia also, as the capital of Cyprus, is divided into a binary, with half of it being under the Greeks while the other half under the Turks. During the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the invasion stopped just 30 meters away from the Church of Saint Cassian, which is considered a miracle on his part, and from there the binary division took place.

Saint Cassian: A Church on the Frontier of Nicosia and the Great Miracle

By George Konstantinos

This church was one of the most stately parishes of Nicosia. Today, Saint Cassian is more like a chapel, although surrounded by houses, whose inhabitants sought a better life in Nicosia outside the walls, far from the barrels of the Turkish soldiers' guns.

Today, unless it is in your plans, you cannot pass by the Church of Saint Cassian. Since 1964, and especially after 1974, the road that passes outside the church is blocked by a roadblock of the National Guard.

Stelios Papantonios, president of the ecclesiastical committee of the temple and a former resident of the parish, tells us:

"Every now and then a believer will come and tell us about a miracle of Saint Cassian, but, in my opinion, the greatest miracle of the Saint is that he stopped the United Nations Buffer Zone just 30 meters from his temple. In the plans of the Turks, we know that this part of Nicosia was also for the taking."*

Saint Cassian is commemorated on February 29.

Source: From the magazine Protevousa of the municipality of Nicosia, issue 1, October 2009. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

* After the inter-communal riots of 1963 the district of Agios Kassianos was divided into two areas. In one lived the Greek Cypriots and in the other the Turkish Cypriots. It was one of the parts bisected by the creation of the original Green Line (United Nations Buffer Zone of Cyprus). During the Turkish invasion of 1974, much of the Agios Kassianos quarter was occupied by the Turkish army, whose invasion was stopped just 30 meters from the Church of Saint Cassian.