Abstract

This paper aims to present the historical construction technology of churches’ bell towers in Cyprus, starting with the initiation of their use and addressing the development of their distinctive morphology adapting and mixing various architectural styles. Traditional bell towers are tall and slender unreinforced masonry structures that are known to be particularly vulnerable to earthquake actions encountered in seismogenic regions, such as Cyprus. Therefore, iron and wood elements with high tensile capacities were commonly utilized in Cypriot bell towers in the form of ties. In particular, the bell tower of Saint John’s church in Psevdas village was constructed using such technology and is an example case studied in more detail in the present work. This tower suffered a partial collapse during an earthquake on May 12th, 2016 and underwent restoration within the next year. Based on the knowledge gathered from the case of the damaged tower and the visual inspection of other bell towers in Cyprus, the use of timber and iron ties in these masonry structures is deemed to be essential for their protection from seismic actions.