Yialousa: the Ayia Trias basilica

1. 1957

   Trial excavations confirmed a small three-aisled single-apse basilica of the second half of the 5th c. with guilloche and ivy mosaics and galleries.

   Directed by A. I. Dikigoropoulos[1]

2. 1963

   Two campaigns revealed the three-aisled basilica with three apses, narthex, atrium, a south annex, mosaic floors with two inscriptions, ambo and chancel fragments; dated late 5th/early 6th century and destroyed in the mid-7th; a church built into the annex later.

   Directed by A. Papageorghiou[2]

3. 1965

   Atrium with three colonnades and an annexe cleared; the annexe proved a hypostyle hall with niches; basilica destroyed late 7th century; a stone stoup, basin and Christian stele found.

   Directed by A. Papageorghiou[3]

4. 1966

   West portico of the atrium and entrance corridor with propylaea cleared, an ironworking room, a south door, and a hypostyle hall with a cruciform font identifying the annexe as a baptistery.

   Directed by A. Papageorghiou[4]

5. 1970

   Baptistery fully cleared: complex of rooms around an atrium with cross-shaped font, apsed anointing room, stoas and corridor to the narthex; section of the main road along the basilica's south and west sides.

   Directed by A. Papageorghiou[5]

6. 1971

   Final campaign on the early Christian basilica: a chapel built with the basilica against its north wall, a stair to the narthex galleries, the west street cleared with small houses of the Arab-raid period (7th-10th c.) built over earlier houses, a layer of ash showing violent destruction, later conversion of the atrium to houses and a corridor to a chapel.

   Directed by A. Papageorghiou[6]

The project as the official records of the time reported it: the colonial Annual Reports, the Cyprus Gazette and the press releases of the Press and Information Office.

1. 1965August 1965

   Images of the excavation site at Yialousa, notable for the basilica of Ayia Trias with its mosaic floors and columns.

   Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (ΡΙΚ), film and video archive, Digital Herodotus item 7674: «ΓΙΑΛΟΥΣΑ - ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ ΑΓΙΑΣ ΤΡΙΑΔΑΣ - 1965 STATUETTE - ROYAL HOLY TRIAD - 1965», August 1965, 00:00:48, https://digital-herodotus.eu/archive/video/items/7674/gialousa-basilike-agias-triadas-1965/

2. 196514 August

   Excavators found a coin of Emperor Honorius between the stone substructure and the mosaic floor of the basilica at Yialousa, used to date the building to the first half of the 5th century.

   Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus, press release no. 12, 14 August 1965: «Αι ανασκαφαί εις Γιαλούσαν»

3. 196514 August

   The Department of Antiquities continued excavating the basilica of Agia Triada at Yialousa from 2 June to 22 July 1965, directed by A. Papageorgiou, uncovering the atrium and adjoining areas.

   Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus, press release no. 12, 14 August 1965: «Αι ανασκαφαί εις Γιαλούσαν»

4. 196514 August

   Within the basilica's atrium, excavators found a rectangular-cut stone basin (περιραντήριον) and an inscribed funerary column, and uncovered a large hypostyle hall and smaller halls beside the basilica.

   Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus, press release no. 12, 14 August 1965: «Αι ανασκαφαί εις Γιαλούσαν»

5. 19661966

   Early Christian three-aisled basilica with mosaics, propylon, and cross-shaped baptistery.

   [7]

6. 197021 July

   Department of Antiquities completed this year's excavations of the Basilica at Ayia Trias, Yalussa, conducted by A. Papageorghiou, Curator of Ancient Monuments, and hoped to continue next year.

   Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus, press release no. 1, 21 July 1970: «Excavations of the Basilica at Ayia Trias, Yalousis»

• Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (ΡΙΚ), film and video archive (Digital Herodotus)1 film clip: «ΓΙΑΛΟΥΣΑ - ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ ΑΓΙΑΣ ΤΡΙΑΔΑΣ - 1965 STATUETTE - ROYAL HOLY TRIAD - 1965», August 1965, 00:00:48; cited and linked onlydigital-herodotus.eu

1. 1.V. Karageorghis, 1964, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1963, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 88.
2. 2.V. Karageorghis, 1967, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1966, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 91.
3. 3.A. H. S. Megaw, 1957, Archaeology in Cyprus, 1957, Archaeological Reports 4.
4. 4.V. Karageorghis, 1966, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1965, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 90.
5. 5.V. Karageorghis, 1971, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1970, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 95.
6. 6.V. Karageorghis, 1972, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1971, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 96.