Agios Lazaros (The Church of Saint Lazarus)

Eight days before Easter

The icon of Saint Lazarus is carried through the streets of Larkana as Easter approaches. Resurrected by Jesus, he was ordained as the Bishop of Kition by Apostles Barnabas and Paul and lived in Larkana for 30 years. Revered and honored, he rests in the tomb under this beautiful marvel of Byzantine architecture. Dating back to the 9th century and built by King Leopold VI, it has survived the ravages of the Ottoman rule to emerge as a symbol of faith and beauty. Made of limestone, the church has an open porch. A Gothic style portico was added under Frankish and Venetian rule. It is during this time that the church became Roman Catholic.  The Ottomans destroyed the impressive domes and bell tower but the latter was rebuilt under Ottoman permission in 1857 in a Latinate style. The iconostasis is gold plated and uniquely wood-carved. The church also has 17th-century icons on its walls. The museum adjacent to it showcases ancient artifacts and relics.

History Tomb of Saint Lazarus in the Church of St. Lazarus Tradition says that the place of Lazarus' tomb was lost during the period of Arab rule beginning in 649. In 890, a tomb was found in Larnaca bearing the inscription "Lazarus, four days dead, a friend of Christ". Emperor Leo VI of Byzantium had Lazarus' remains transferred to Constantinople in 898. The transfer was apostrophized by Arethas, Bishop of Caesarea, and is commemorated by the Orthodox Church each year on October 17. The transferred relics were later looted by the Fourth Crusade in the early 13th century and were brought to Marseille but subsequently lost. In recompense to Larnaca for the translation, Emperor Leo had the Church of St. Lazarus erected over Lazarus' tomb in the late 9th to early 10th centuries. It is one of three Byzantine churches which have survived in Cyprus; the other two are the Church of the Apostle Barnabas near Salamis and the church that was built in the walkway leading from the Epiphanios. The church is an elongated building measuring 31.5 x 14.5 m with a tripartite sanctuary, semicircular apses internally and three-sided externally and a five-sided apse in the center. The interior structure of the church is divided into three aisles with bulky double pillars and arched openings going through them. These pillars bear the weight of the domes thus forming the central aisle while the north and south aisles.