ABSTRACT
The eighteenth century was a period of reconstruction for the Church of Cyprus, which under archbishops Silvestros, Philotheos, Paisios and Chrysanthos became the arc of education and culture on the island. Eventually it manifested the first indications of centripetal tendencies from the eighteenth century onwards culminating in the restoration of the centre of gravity of intellectual creation from the diaspora to Cyprus after 1878. The social basis of the reception of Enlightenment ideas in Cyprus can be traced from whatever information emerges from the study of the subscriber lists of Greek publications between 1750 and 1821. The breadth, depth and gravitas of the demand to understand and assess, in substance and not just ideology, the national centre's role in shaping the intellectual life of the periphery is illustrated in the case of Cyprus through the work of Athanasios Sakellarios and its importance for Cypriot society's self-awareness.
