Epitaph at the ruins of Panagia Paramythia

The time has come again... Epitaph at the ruins of Panagia tis Paramythia...

 edotourkia.gr - Ήρθε πάλι ο καιρός…Επιτάφιος στα ερείπια της Παναγίας της Παραμυθίας…

Anna Andreou Category: Family 03 May 2024

The first Holy Friday Lamentation Service was held in more than  50 years since the Panagia Paramythia in Vlach Sarai in Istanbul was completely destroyed by fire. The restoration work of the church has begun.

Maria Dimou writes:

Easter in the City means Easter in the center of the Orthodox world. It means integration into the Roman Community. Easter means a return to ancestral customs. It means pilgrimage to churches sometimes brilliant and majestic and sometimes humble and forgotten.

Here the steps lead you in the footsteps of history. You pass easily from the bustling Pera to the coast of the Horn, to the historic peninsula. One bridge after another connects the shores of the Golden Horn. Eminönü, Unkapan, Tzimbali, Fanari, Balatas and the walls of the Byzantine Emperors, lost in the embankments, unfurl like a frayed ribbon, not on the wave, as it once was, but beside the wide promenade, whispering to those who want to eavesdrop stories of barbarians who hurt them, with emperors who honored them, with sultans who exiled them, with princes who inhabited them, with Orientals who despised them.

Into the depths of history...

And when one goes through one of their many passages, which were opened after they no longer served the new residents of Vasilevousa, small uphill alleys await him at the roots of the Eptalofou state. Alleys that once passed under mansions, small houses and small palaces, between churches, mosques and synagogues. Ascents and steps lead anyone who wishes to the depths of history.

There, at the beginning of such an ascent, the princes of Wallachia chose to build their own church. Between the 5th and 6th hills, in the Lighthouse of the Patriarchates, the powerful of the Transdanubian regions built their mansions. Soutsos and Kantakouzins wanted to be next to the center of Orthodoxy, next to the Ecumenical Throne, where the heart of faith and language beat. And they built two churches. In Vlach-Sarai, Panagia Paramythia and in Bogdan-Sarai, Saint Nicholas.

And there was a fire...

And if the days of glory passed and the princes perished, the Virgin Mary of Fairy Tales, of consolation and compassion, remained there gazing down from above at the waters of the Gulf painted every bit of gold. Forgotten and neglected. What if the Ecumenical Patriarchate once found shelter there in its wanderings after its expulsion from the Monastery of Pammakaristos. What if the Synod met here to sanction the patriarchal value of the Church of Russia. The glory faded and history seemed to be forgotten.

And there came a fire, one of the many that for centuries consumed the substance of this city. And it burned the church of Paramythia. The church of the Princes and Patriarchs was burned, the Virgin of Paramythia, the consolation of the people who made it their home, was burned. The church burned down, and the neighborhood was deserted.

No more princes, no more ordinary Romans. The neighboring Balatas also emptied the Fanari. Who cares, who cares, who picks up the mess.

The time has come to know the Resurrection...

And the years passed and the time came again for the Virgin of the Vlachs to experience her Resurrection. Through the care and continuous efforts of the new President of the Community, Mr. Lakis Viga, this year after 50 years, Praises were heard today in the ruins of the church.

With much emotion, people who grew up in this neighborhood, believers who love these forgotten churches, residents of other denominations, people who support every such effort of the Roman Communities, we found ourselves under the spring sky of the City, between the worn walls and the openings of the windows, in a garden where vegetation rages and birds nest. We climbed the weathered stone steps and crossed the marble threshold. We stood reverently, honoring the history of the place, reflecting on the special weight of the moments and singing the Praises of the Lamentations.

Everything takes on a different meaning...

Here, just above the coast of the Golden Horn gulf, among the ruins of a church, everything takes on a different meaning. Golgotha, the crucifixion and death, the burial, the three-day descent into Hell and finally the Resurrection are also experienced as personal experiences, as experiences but also stories, as hope and expectation. The fight being fought is not to build another church. And as Mr. Vigas says, it is to keep the memory alive, not to lose this precious mosaic from the mosaic of the Roman Community. Because every church, every school, every community building is part of the heritage entrusted to us by our ancestors. It is our duty to pass it on to the next generation intact and unscathed.

The Romaness of the City lives silently every moment of this march. She lives and hopes, gives her own fight even through the ruins. She has learned for centuries now to fight for her salvation, her life and her hope. And Panagia Paramythia, the Vlach-Sarai of the Lantern is the best example.