The monastery of Saint Barnabas (or Ayios Barnabas) was a church on the

island of Cyprus Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia, and the 80th largest island in the world by area. It is located south of th ...

, located west of Constantia. The site is today within

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

and functions as a museum. The original shrine church was founded in the late fifth century, perhaps in 477, when the Emperor

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

financed the construction of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

near the spot where the body of

Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

was discovered by Archbishop

Anthemius Procopius Anthemius (died 11 July 472) was western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: ...

. Funding was also provided by local notables. The church had a timber roof and included

stoa A stoa (; plural, stoas,"stoa", ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Ed., 1989 stoai, or stoae ), in ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually ...

s, gardens, aqueducts, and hostels intended for receiving pilgrims. It may have been expected that pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem might stop in Constantia and visit the shrine. The sixth-century '' Laudatio Barnabae'' describes the new tomb of Barnabas as decorated with silver and marble. It also attested the existence of a monastic community living beside the shrine. The relics were eventually moved to the basilica of Saint Epiphanius in Constantia. Two buildings were added to the complex during the reign of

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

(527–565) by the next archbishop, Philoxenos, who left a short inscription recording his work. In the late seventh century, the basilica was destroyed during Arab raids. Today, what remains of the original basilica is incorporated in the east end of a newer vaulted basilica of the

cross-in-square A cross-in-square or crossed-dome floor plan, plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine Empire, Byzantine church architecture, churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross ...

type, built around 900. The church has three aisles and two flat domes on tall drums. It may have been the residence of the archbishops for a couple centuries after the abandonment of Constantia in the late eighth century. Although the second construction remained standing throughout the centuries and continued function as a pilgrimage church, n19, refers to the "exhaustive evidence for the survival of the pilgrimage church". the continuity of the monastic community, although possible, cannot be demonstrated.

Wilbrand of Oldenburg Wilbrand of Oldenburg (before 1180 - Zwolle, 26 July 1233) was a bishop of Paderborn and of Utrecht. Family Wilbrand was the son of Henry II, Count of Oldenburg-Wildeshausen, and Beatrix of Hallermund, daughter of Wilbrand I, Count of Loccum-Hal ...

visited the church in the 13th century, noting that the city around it was "destroyed". In 1735,

Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky Vasil Grigorovich Barsky ( uk, Василь Григорович Григорович-Барський; Russian: Василий Григорьевич Григорович-Барский; born 1 ( N.S. 12) January 1701 - died 7 (18) October 1747) ...

visited the site and drew a sketch of the cloisters, courtyards and outbuildings. The current form of the buildings is a result of work done in 1756 by Archbishop Philotheos. Between 1971 and 1974, the monastery had three monks who made their living by selling honey and painting

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s. The monastery was abandoned following the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish ...

. No longer hosting a monastic community, the church today function as a museum of icons. The former

cloisters A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

host an archaeological museum with artefacts going back to the

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

St Barnabas' Monastery and Icon Museum: Near Salamis, Famagusta, North Cyprus
{{coord, 35.17478, 33.88041, format=dms, type:landmark_region:CY, display=title Christian monasteries established in the 5th century Byzantine church buildings in Cyprus Buildings and structures in Famagusta Christian monasteries disestablished in the 20th century 1974 disestablishments in Cyprus Former Christian monasteries Museums in Northern Cyprus