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(Site Director: Dr. D. Michaelides)
Important early Christian remains came to light in November 2002, during road works at the locality 'Agioi Pente' north of Geroskipou. In the summer of 2003, after a brief rescue operation by the Department of Antiquities, the same Department and the Municipality of Geroskipou invited the University of Cyprus to undertake the excavation and publication of the site. Unfortunately, the basilica that once dominated the site has been almost completely destroyed during the recent activities in the area. However, the variety and quality of imported marble (columns, offering tables) and the fragments of wall decoration (champlevé reliefs, mosaics, frescoes) reflect an exceptionally luxurious building. There are also remains of a burial complex, directly associated with the basilica, with monumental tombs and large ossuaries which, although looted, yielded rich finds: coins, bronze and bone fittings, gold jewellery and other. Two intact mosaics and hundreds of fragments of others demonstrate that at least some of these burials were covered by mosaic floors – something that is witnessed for the first time in Cyprus. The buildings and burials date from the period between the 5th and the 6th centuries A.D.
Geroskepou, "Ayioi Pente": Excavations
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