1735
I stayed there for two days and then left early in the morning and walked for about two hours or more and crossed to the other side of the slope of a low mountain, covered densely with various types of forest trees, especially enormous pine trees. So I reached the next monastery, about two hours walking distance for the previous one, which is called Stavros ton Diosmaton or Agiasmaton, for those who know the Scriptures.
The monastery … consists of a small building which is located in a beautiful and isolated spot, suitable for hermits, where the air is light and there is a spring with sweet, good drinking water. There are a few fruit trees, but no monks, save for one who is both his own master and servant. By chance he was absent when I called, and there was only one elderly nun who was sitting there to mind the place, and she gave me access to the monastery. There I performed my usual worship and was saddened that such a wonderful location was so deserted. The church there was reasonable, newly built by Christians seven years earlier, and there were two or three monastic cells.
The monastery was founded and dedicated in the name of the True Cross, and it is called in Greek Σταυρός των Διοσμάτων, that is the cross of the sanctified water. I do not know from where came this name, nor could I find out from anyone, but I think that it is either from the cross and its power to sanctify water, or from a spring with water where is found there, because the Greeks call it αγιάσματα, that is sanctified, because it is their custom to bless with holy water frequently.
360° Virtual Tour
“Sans doute le plus ancien ensemble iconographique complet de l’histoire à l’Orient Orthodoxe, ce sont les fresques de l’éclise de la Sainte-Croix d’Aghiasmati, à Chypre, signees par le peintre Philippe Goul, et datant de 1494.
Le version sur les freques de Chypre, à travers 16 épisodes, associe la Croix avec la baton miraculeux de Moïse, en tant que symbole du salut, raconte les célèbres scenes avec Constantin et Hélène, la découvert des clous du Christ et conclut avec son Exaltation. Aussi bien en Orient qu’en Occident, les personnages et les faits fondamentaux de l’Histoire de la Croix restent à peu près les mêmes, tout comme le lien symbolique avec les épisodes de l’Ancien Testament.”
L'histoire de la "Sainte-Croix" en Orient: Une représentation rare à Chypre, ed. St. Chondrogiannis, Oeuvres d'art du Musée du Louvre à Thessalonique; le reliquaire de la "Vraie Croix", Thessalonique 2012, p. 106.
