ACHEIROPOIET MONASTERY

Founded in the ^11th century, this Greek Orthodox monastery (Akhiropiitos Manastırı, Μονή Αχειροποίητου/Moni Achiropiitou) is located by the sea, near Camelot beach and the Lambousa archaeological site. It is built on the ruins of a ^6th-century church which, according to legend, was erected on the site where an Acheiropoiet icon of Christ, i.e. "not made by human hands", was discovered. Abandoned in the ^19th century, then converted into barracks by the Turkish army between 1974 and 2016, the complex is today managed by the Heritage Studies Center of Girne American University (gau.edu.tr), a private university in Kyrenia. Surrounded by more or less well-preserved outbuildings, the imposing catholicon is made up of elements from various periods. On the west side, the church opens with a Gothic-vaulted exonarthex and continues with a domed Franco-Byzantine narthex, followed by a three-winged Byzantine nave covered by a vaulted roof and drum dome. It ends in an apse that extends in width with two absidioles inherited from the ^6th-century church. Although the interior decoration has disappeared, the monastery remains famous for its "Lambousa treasure": in the ^7th century, to escape Arab plunderers, 28 precious Byzantine gold and silver objects were buried nearby. Discovered in 1897, the treasure is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the British Museum in London.