HOLY LITURGY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 47 YEARS AT SOURP BOGHOS CHAPEL
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

Gibrahayer
Nicosia

Last Sunday, 11 April 2010, a "Merelotsi Badarak" (All Souls’ Mass)
was held at the chapel of the old Ledra Palace Armenian cemetery
in the presence of about 100 faithful, including representatives of
community organisations, Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian with whose
efforts a 155,000 euro grant was secured.

This was a historical occasion, for it was the first Badarak to
be celebrated inside the Sourp Boghos chapel since 1963! Although
according to the records of the Arachnortaran, the cemetery has
been in use since 1 November 1877, there are references to its
usage before that [and I have personally found 4 earlier tombstones:
Nata(?) Carletti-Eramian (in faded Latin script, rested in September
1858), Yeremia H. Yeramian (08/12/1823-19/11/1859), Hagop Guvezian
(1827-1867), and Sdepan Papazian (rested on 20 August 1875)].

…. when the British came to Nicosia in July 1878, the city was
entirely within the Venetian walls, and outside it were only 6
constructions: Keushk Chiftlik, a tannery, a cafe, two Turkish
cemeteries and this cemetery, the only of the six still surviving…

The chapel inside the cemetery, dedicated to Sourp Boghos, was
built in 1892 in memory of Boghos G. Odadjian from Constantinople,
Dragoman (tarkman) of the Cyprus administration, as stated in his
will and testament and immortalised on his marble tombstone beside
the chapel. It is a beautiful chapel, in which it was customary to
celebrate some services until 1963. Following the 1963-1964 events
and the proximity to the buffer zone, together with the fact that
the Ayios Dhometios cemetery was used since 1931, the old cemetery
and chapel had been neglected; a partial restoration was conducted in
1988, but the chapel was not fully restored until May 2009. In late
March 2010, a commemorative plaque was installed in the southern side
of the cemetery, containing the names of 419 persons buried there,
whose information is found in the Prelature’s archives; according to
an earlier memorandum by the Prelature, 463 persons were buried there
(the 44 others must have been Protestants and Catholics).

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Archbishop
Varoujan Hergelian and Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian for their joined
efforts in restoring this historical cemetery and organising the first
(of many, I hope) mass there since 1963! To realise the historical
importance of this cemetery, I will mention an unknown fact for many:
when the British came to Nicosia in July 1878, the city was entirely
within the Venetian walls, and outside it were only 6 constructions:
Keushk Chiftlik, a tannery, a cafe, two Turkish cemeteries and this
cemetery, the only of the six still surviving…