In this published doctoral dissertation, done for a joint degree of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, and the King's College, London, Thomas Kaffenberger examines extensive material on architecture in Cyprus. This book on church architecture for the Greek Orthodox community is the result of more than a decade of research. The author worked at major scholarly centers and conducted field studies on the island itself. The chronological scope of the investigation is framed by the political changes of the multiethnic and multicultural Cypriot society during predominantly Latin rule. The quest starts around 1300, when the Crusaders’ retreat from the Holy Land triggered significant immigration of the Latin-speaking population to this eastern Mediterranean island. The survey ends in 1571, when the island ceased to be a Venetian colony and was subjected to Ottoman rule.
The Latin/Frankish, or rather predominantly Genoese and Venetian, rule of the island was marked by significant architectural activity that heavily outweighs textual historical records. As the island became one of the major trade centers in the Eastern Mediterranean, scholars frequently point to the remarkable dynamics of exchanges of architectural ideas and the diversity of the Cypriot church architecture as the outcomes of the vigorous competing expressions of wealth, power, and identity. Hence, this study continues research on architecture as the potential signifier of tradition and identity. Especially prominent were architectural activities in Nicosia and Famagusta, the inland capital city and the major port and trade city, respectively. The building activities elsewhere on the island are recurrently examined in the light of architectural developments in these two major centers.
Early scholars of Cypriot churches observed their unusual heterogeneity. For pedantic scholars, somewhat unsettling are the rich hybridity and evocative eclecticism of their architectural styles. The majority of scholars focused their attention predominantly on large-scale projects, such as the Latin-rite St. Sophia Cathedral in Nicosia and Byzantine-rite Church of St. George in Famagusta, as the paradigmatic solutions. Often scholars used these churches as a backdrop for studies of social evolutionism and colonial studies of identity issues within Cypriot culture. Because they defy any “pure” stylistic categorization, the churches were labeled early on “Franco-Byzantine,” with primarily pejorative associations related to their architectural qualities.
In his book, Kaffenberger sets two major goals. One is to document the so-called “Franco-Byzantine” churches. The second is to question and deconstruct both the simplistic “Franco-Byzantine” concept and attached notions of the architectural inferiority of this remarkable corpus of Cypriot churches. The results are presented in two volumes that can be treated as two separate books. The second volume is the catalogue of the studied churches. This catalogue is pivotal for developing the scholarly narrative of “Franco-Byzantine” architecture and its relevance, presented in the first volume in seven chapters and concluding remarks.
The first chapter presents historiography about the nineteenth-century “Franco-Byzantine” concept in architecture and its application to Cypriot architecture starting in the 1930s. Kaffenberger extracts four major myths about “Franco-Byzantine” architecture: that it was homogenous, related to dual identities of the Franks and Greeks, artistically inferior style, and a clear marker of conflict and identity (36–46). He calls for more nuanced studies that highlight the diversity of individual structures rather than their passive participation in a monolithic scholarly construct. The second chapter presents historical architecture on the island before the 1300s. The analysis that follows of the churches built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries is presented typologically in chapter 3 and within the stylistic analysis in chapters 4 and 5. Chapters 6 and 7 engage with theories about tradition, as well as cultural and religious identity, which Kaffenberger frames with socio-political markers. Instead of definite concluding remarks, the final section presents ideas for future research of Cypriot churches and broader studies of religious architecture as the material embodiment of complex cultural legacies.
Within the “Franco-Byzantine” debate, Kaffenberger aims to highlight churches used by the Greek Orthodox community. The task is challenging for several reasons. Often, confessional attributions of these churches are not verified. Moreover, in the absence of relevant textual and other historical sources, the dating of many churches is questionable because it is based predominantly on their structural or stylistic features. Kaffenberger should be applauded, as he documents 261 partially or fully preserved structures and adds information on 54 other churches today known only from textual or visual references. Moreover, the author records and discusses some of the churches within this large corpus for the first time. Yet, he also acknowledges that his focus is on masonry churches and that he deliberately omits some sixty Greek Orthodox churches made of wood. According to him, these latter churches were “unarchitectural” (31).
The most apparent quality of this book is that it presents this immense material comprehensively for the first time. The catalogue of the studied churches, shown in the second volume, is a treasure trove that may serve as an independent springboard for future research. The project is beautifully illustrated with more than 1,000 color photographs and line drawings, some made by the author himself, neatly packed within 1,000 pages of the two substantial volumes. The rich illustrative material is complemented by five graphic inserts that show the map of the island with locations of the studied churches, maps of Famagusta and Nicosia with the locations of churches marked, selected church plans, longitudinal sections, and the plan and cross section of the Church of St. George in Famagusta. Extensive bibliography additionally provides an invaluable resource for the studies of Cypriot churches, examined from various perspectives.
Written with evident scholarly passion for the material, the text, however, also reveals unnecessarily pointed debates, especially those about the terminology, stemming from literary studies applied to architectural research. Similarly, almost private dialogue with other scholars who examine Cypriot architecture and society occasionally vexes the text. The author writes, for example, that another scholar “subconsciously” reaches her scholarly conclusions (373). Then again, Kaffenberger presents his material and findings as equally debatable and opens numerous trajectories for future studies. This reviewer especially values how the manuscript reopens several vital topics related to architectural typology, Byzantine stone masonry architecture recurrently present within Greek islands, and the meaning and relevance of “copies” and spolia in architecture. These topics bring out the specificity of Cypriot churches. Simultaneously, they go well beyond the scope of the Cypriot case studies and engage with larger architectural discourse.
Tradition and Identity: The Architecture of Greek Churches in Cyprus (14th to 16th Centuries) is a much-needed and important contribution to the studies of architecture and society in the Eastern Mediterranean.
