AGIOS IOANNIS THEOLOGOS CATHEDRAL

This cathedral (Καθεδρικός Ναός Αγίου Ιωάννη/Kathedrikos Naos Agiou Ioanni tou Theologou, St. John's Cathedral) is the seat of the Orthodox Archbishop of Cyprus, in conjunction with the neighboring New Cathedral. Founded in the ^18th century, it is dedicated to John, known as "the Theologian", one of Christ's apostles. Since independence (1960), it has been the venue for the country's major official ceremonies. The building was erected on the site of an early ^13th-century Benedictine abbey, itself built on a complex founded by Syrian Orthodox monks in the ^10th century. It was not until shortly before the city was taken by the Ottomans (1570) that the Venetians entrusted the site to the Orthodox clergy of Cyprus. Renamed "St. John the Theologian", the site initially remained a monastery. From 1592, it was a powerful center for the spread of Hellenism, tolerated by the Ottomans. The former Benedictine chapel was enlarged in 1662, then converted into a cathedral in 1730.

Visit. Gothic and Byzantine in inspiration, the building is nonetheless quite clumsy: a simple nave 22 m long, supported by large square buttresses and ending in an apse to the east, a narthex (west ) added in 1779 and a bell tower dating from the ^mid-19th century. To its credit, the building was altered during a serious internal crisis in the Cypriot Church (1720-1730). There are three replacements of ornamentation from the Benedictine chapel. Above the small entrance used for daily life, the marble lintel is engraved with the well-preserved lion of Venice. By contrast, above the main entrance, under the narthex, another marble lintel bears a badly damaged bas-relief: two lions surrounding the arms of the kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem. This different treatment of two symbols of the past is no coincidence. In the eyes of the archbishopric, the Lusignans "stole" the church from the Orthodox; the Venetians "returned" it to them. Inside, the vaults and walls are entirely covered with Byzantine-style motifs painted between 1736 and 1756. These are the oldest Christian paintings preserved in Nicosia. Among the thousands of figures depicted, the ceiling scenes tell the story of the first bishop of Cyprus, Saint Barnabas, and the discovery of his tomb at Salamis, near Famagusta. The iconostasis is just as busy, covered with numerous motifs in gold leaf.