Agios (Saint) Raphael church stands in the village of Pachyammos, in the Paphos region. It was built on ground where difficult battles had taken place in 1964.
Offerings and healing
The church was built here after a miracle that occurred to a resident of Pachyammos. Ever since, many come to pay their respects to Saint Raphael, bringing charms and λαμπάδες — the large candles. People pray to be healed of whatever is troubling them: some to conceive, others to recover their health. Over the years many have said they witnessed a healing and returned with an offering, which is why the main icon carries so many silver tags and why the big candles are always lit.
Inside
The interior is as arresting as the setting. Walking in you feel the scale and the calm; wood carvings and carved framing surround the icons throughout, and the walls and roof are painted with hagiographies from end to end. It is a church that rewards looking closely — at the carving, the painting, and the small details worked into the columns.
The yard
The church overlooks the beach and sea below and has a large yard all around it, with two monuments as memorials to those who died in battle — one of a soldier, the other representing the lost souls. Outside you can sit under the shade of the tree with a coffee or a cold drink from the café near the entrance, and listen to the sea.
More sightseeing around Paphos
Agios Neophytos Monastery
Founded in 1170 by the monk Neophytos, who carved his hermitage out of the rock.
Chrysoroyiatissa Monastery
Our Lady of the Golden Pomegranate, founded in the 12th century above Pano Panayia and still working — with a winery in the courtyard.
Panagia tou Sinti Monastery
A 16th-century monastery in the Xeros valley near Pentalia — long abandoned, and among the finest Byzantine buildings left standing in the district.
Akamas Peninsula
230 square kilometres of untouched headland — the last large unspoiled coast on the island, and a Natura 2000 site.