Saint Barnabas monastery restoration works completed

Restoration works on frescoes and the ornate carved iconostasis at Saint Barnabas monastery in Engomi, Famagusta, have been completed, head of the bicommunal committed on cultural heritage Sotos Ktoris has announced. Ktoris said the monastery’s roof has also been repaired. He said the frescoes were painted in the 20th century by three monks – Chariton, Stephanos and Barnabas – from the village of Afania. The renovation project was co-funded by the EU and implemented under the supervision of UNDP. The monastery was built in 488AD. Saint Barnabas, the founder and patron of the Church of Cyprus, was born in Cyprus to Jewish parents and travelled to Jerusalem for studies. The frescoes inside the church According to the Church of Cyprus, he was distinguished for his missionary and charitable activities, and was directly associated with the spread of Christianity in Cyprus. Saint Barnabas was persecuted by Jews and died a martyr’s death by stoning in the city of Salamis, around 57AD. His body was placed on a pyre and, according to tradition, it remained intact. His relics were found at the end of the 5th century by archbishop Anthemios along with the handwritten gospel of evangelist Matthew. About a hundred metres to the east of the church, there is a carved tomb dating back to the Roman period, considered to be the tomb of Saint Barnabas. In the 18th century, a vaulted building was constructed over the tomb, which later fell into ruin. In 1964, the three monks built a chapel where the ruins were and the church was a site of pilgrimage until 1974. The Turkish invasion in 1974 interrupted this flourishing of the monastery and the monks were gradually expelled. The monastery was plundered and several icons sold. The church was most recently renovated in the 18th century.