Saint Lazarus

This stone build church, in the center of Larnaca (St. Lazaros Square), is the most important surviving Byzantine monument of the whole of Cyprus. It was built in 890 by Byzantine Emperor Leo VI, the Wise, on the resting place of St. Lazarus the resurrected friend of Christ. St. Lazarus arrived in ancient Kition on 33 AD becoming its first Bishop and Patron Saint. His tomb lies under the sanctuary and can be visited. In Frankish times 13-16th centuries) a stone build covered shed (stoa) of Gothic style was added on its south side. The 3 imposing domes of this Orthodox Basilica Church were destroyed with the original bell-tower probably in the first years of the Ottoman rule (1571 AD), but the bell-tower was rebuild in a different style in 1857 and after the Ottomans allowed bell towers on Cyprus churches again. In Frankish times the Church belonged to the Catholics, but in 1589 the Ottomans sold it back to the Orthodox, as they had no intension of turning it into a Mosque because of its Christian cemetery. The brilliant Byzantine art of the icons and the unique baroque woodcarving of the golden surfaced iconostas were completed in 1782. Icon painter Hadjimicael completed the iconography of the iconostas in 1797. Some furniture in woodcarving and some icons on the walls are of the 17th century.