Sourp Magar Monastery

Sourp Magar Monastery

The Sourp Magar is an Armenian monastery located in Halevga/Alevkayasi in the Pentadaktylos Mountains (GPS identification: X: 35.287548, Y: 33.522117). The Monastery was founded in the early 11th century and it consists of an irregular rectangle of two-storied residential buildings constructed around a central precinct, and two small churches or chapels, which appear to be the remains of the side aisles of a larger church . The masonry of the chapels comprises of local dense clastic sedimentary rocks (recrystallized brecciated limestones) belonging to the Kyrenia Terrane and porous calcarenites belonging to the Nicosia–Athalassa geological formation.

The main properties of the recrystallized limestones are summarized below:

• Apparent Density (EN 1936): 2690-2720 kg/m³
• Open Porosity (EN 1936): 1-2%
• Compressive Strength (EN 1926): 513.0-113.3 MPa

The aforementioned tests for the characterization of the monument's stone were carried out in 2018, in the framework of a combined laboratory and in situ investigation that was conducted to determine the physico-mechanical and mineralogical characteristics of the building materials of the Sourp Magar Armenian Monastery. Sampling and testing was assigned to the Building Materials and LEDRA Laboratories of the University of Cyprus by Lordos Architects & Associates, on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme – Partnership for the Future, which is funded by the European Union.

University of Cyprus - Ledra and Building Materials Labs & The Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ΕΤΕΚ)

University of Cyprus - Ledra and Building Materials Labs & The Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ΕΤΕΚ)

University of Cyprus - Ledra and Building Materials Labs

University of Cyprus - Ledra and Building Materials Labs

Photos taken by Rogiros Illampas & Ioannis Ioannou, University of Cyprus - Ledra and Building Materials Labs