Cassian of Glyphia

Venerable Cassian of Glyphia was an ascetic of Cyprus who struggled in the area of Glyphia, near the village of Alektora, between Limassol and Paphos. The Cypriot chronicler of the fifteenth century, Leontios Machairas, mentions him in his Chronicle: near Alektora, at a place called Glyphia, are the tomb of Saint Cassian and his relic, and his memory is celebrated on 16 September.

About three kilometres north-⁠east of Alektora, in a quiet place at the boundary of the villages of Archimandrita, Plataniskia and Alektora, on a hill, stand the ruins of the church of Venerable Cassian and the cave where he practised asceticism, in the north wall of the church; the cave was enclosed in the church by a small gate. Inside it is blackened by the candles lit long ago by the faithful, and a hollow with a surrounding plaster wall, made by early Christians, is believed to have been the sarcophagus of the saint's bones. The church was painted, judging from traces of frescoes to the left of the apse. Cassian must have worked miracles, since his relic, his whole body, still existed in the time of Machairas. About four hundred metres south-⁠east of the hermitage is a well; it is said that in the saint's time the water was on the surface, and the stone channel that brought it nearer to the hermitage survives. After his repose this water was certainly regarded as holy water by the faithful who came to venerate his relics. Today the saint is forgotten and his memory is no longer kept. The calendar of the Church of Greece (new style) lists him on 16 September.