After the Ottoman capture of the city in the Siege of Famagusta in 1571, the church was converted into a stable for camels, with worship being allowed on only one day of the year, the Feast of "St. George the Exiler", according to the records. In 1905, the British administration handed the church to the Greek Cypriots, who used it as their parish church. This was organized by a man called Michalakis Loizides, who persuaded the British administrators to give permission with the help of some Turkish Cypriot friends and got free wood for doors and windows from contractors in the port of Famagusta. He then got the priest of the nearby village of Kontea to serve at the church. By the 1930s, many frescoes that were observed in 1899 had disappeared, according to Rupert Gunnis. Upon the takeover by the Greek Cypriots, the southern part of the church was repaired. Between 1937 and 1939, the rubble in the northern part was removed and an excavation was carried out; the road to the west was also lowered to its level when the church was built. In 1947, further repairs were carried out. During the intercommunal violence of 1963–64, Greek Cypriots left the fortified old town of Famagusta and the church was used to house Turkish Cypriot refugees until 1974. This may have inflicted further damage upon the frescoes. Since 1989, it has been used by the Eastern Mediterranean University as a cultural centre.