The church of Saint Helias in Mutluyaka (Stylloi) is rather new: it was opened in 1953 by president and head of the church of Cyprus Makarios; the sign to remember that moment is still on the wall inside the church (see the photograph on the right). In 1974 the Island of Cyprus was divided in a Northern and Southern part. The Greek Cypriots inhabitants of the village that then was called Stylloi, went to the South while Turkish Cypriots who lived in Mouttagiaka / Mutluyaka, an old Osman village in the very South of the island, resettled in Stylloi in the North and renamed the village of Stylloi after the village they left.
As the church of Saint Helias is quite new, there is not a lot to tell about it. The amount of concrete used is too big to call it ‘lovely’ like many other Greek churches still are. Inside, it was stripped of almost all objects, as you can see in the photograph I took.
Outside, around the church of Saint Helias, is a graveyard that has been destroyed. The best comment I can make about that is to refer to the blog I wrote before and the publication of M. Thorsten Kruse from the university of Münster in Germany. The strange thing about villages like this is that they changed from completely Greek Cypriot to completely Turkish Cypriot – the actual Turkish Cypriots living there left an all Turkish village behind. The grief and the nostalgia on both sides must be enormous, and maybe also the bad feelings or even hate.
The church of Saint Helias in Mutluyaka is deserted and you can visit it without any problem. I tell that here because people have asked me during the last years what happens when they go visit and look around. I have visited many churches in Northern Cyprus by now, as you can see in the range of blogs on this site and I have never been bothered by locals (or the army); whenever I needed help, I got it. The climate in Northern Cyprus is peaceful and friendly; do not worry and just go for what you want to see or know.

Some useful links about the population issue:
http://www.prio-cyprus-displacement.net/default.asp?id=409
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouttagiaka

Other blogs you might like:
Ermelaos and Lapta – Northern Cyprus heritage (4)
Agios Nikolaos in Limnia (Mormenekse)
Agios Mamas church – Northern Cyprus heritage (15)