A lecture by the rapporteur, Archimandrite Lazaros Georgiou, on the subject: “the Lazario of Bethania, the first Tomb of Saint Lazarus”, on the occasion of the homonymous publication, the fruit of the author’s postgraduate research at the University of “Neapolis” Pafos, was held at the Pattichio Municipal Theatre of Skala.

The author presented the historical course of Bethany with the first Tomb of Saint Lazarus, the creation of the pilgrimage, and the topography of the area, the testimonies about the liturgical practice, the historical references of the tomb in the Byzantine Lazarion, the arrival of the Muslim Arabs, who built a mosque on the site, as well as the Latin Crusaders, the construction of new churches and a castle and the importance of the Monastery of the Preadstasis, which continues this centuries-old tradition with the presence of Cypriot monks.

The lecture, held on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, was coordinated by Dr. Charalambos G. Hotzakoglou, Byzantinologist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Society of Cypriot studies. Dr. Hotzakoglou, who has been involved in his individual studies with the Church of St. Lazarus in Larnaca, stressed that during his many years of teaching and research at the Hellenic Open University in Athens, he has identified the few scientific studies published on the pilgrimages of the Holy sepulchral Brotherhood and the need to focus research on them by Greek researchers. This gap, he said, comes to heal the study of Archimandrite Lazaros Georgiou, which presents historical information, traditions and archaeological evidence based on the relevant literature and field observations, accompanied by rich and rare photographic material, the fruit of many years of research by the author. The event was attended by Metropolitan Nektarios of Kition, the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Cyprus, Metropolitan of Vostron, Mr. Timotheos, who with his intervention outlined the current situation of the pilgrimage and stressed the need for cooperation between Larnaca and Bethany, as well as many people, to whose questions the rapporteur answered after the lecture.

To listen to this lecture, you can visit Rick’s YouTube channel, at the link: https://bit.ly/3TeLGUB.