AGIOS IOANNIS (ST.JOHN’S) CATHEDRAL
It was built by Archbishopric Nikiforos in 1662 on the site of a 14th century Benedictine chapel dedicated to St John the Evangelist. It was turned into an Orthodox monastery in 1426 when the Benedictine Order left the island following the Mameluke raids. The Orthodox church dedicated to St John the Theologian, remained a monastery until the 18th century when Archbishopric Sylvester converted it into a cathedral, establishing it as the seat of the Orthodox Archbishopric in Cyprus. It is a small single-aisled church with Franco-Byzantine architectural elements. It is the only church in Lefkosia in which the whole o the internal frescoes have survived in their entirely. The four large icons on the iconostasis were painted by the Cretan master, Ioannis Kornaros, in 1795 and 1797. Its 18th century frescoes depict scenes from the Holy Bible and the discovery of the tomb of St. Barnabas at Salamis.
