Nicosia's Byzantine Museum and its 230 icons

If the painted churches of the Troodos are why many people head into the mountains, this museum is the reason not to skip Nicosia before they do. Here you see icons from a hand’s breadth away, well ordered and well lit. What it holds and how to slot it into your day come from the municipal entry and the Nicosia Tourism Board.

The island’s richest Byzantine collection

The municipality describes it as the richest and most representative collection of Byzantine art in Cyprus. It shows around 230 icons spanning the 9th to the 19th century, along with sacred vessels, vestments and books, and stresses that many date from the 12th century, when icon painting was at its peak. The photo on this page, a saint riding a lion, is one of those pieces.

It’s run by the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation and housed inside the Archbishop’s Palace in Nicosia, the new one that Makarios himself had built between 1956 and 1960. The archbishopric’s library is in the same building.

The Kanakaria mosaics

The piece with the most history attached is the set of 6th-century mosaics from the church of Kanakaria. That church is in the northern part of the island, and the municipality says the mosaics were torn out, sold abroad and later repatriated. They’re now one of the museum’s big draws. Standing in front of a fifteen-hundred-year-old mosaic that nearly vanished into the art market stays with you.

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European art in the same compound

The Foundation also has art galleries with four rooms. According to the municipality, they hold Western European works from the Renaissance to modern times, along with Greek and Cypriot pieces. I wouldn’t go just for them, but if you’re already inside, they’re worth a look.

Hours, prices and getting there

In the Tourism Board’s museum listing it runs 9:00 to 16:30 on weekdays and closes at 13:00 on Saturdays; tickets are €4, or €2 reduced. Sunday isn’t listed. The municipality lists the phone number, +357 22 430 008, and the sensible thing is to ring ahead, especially on religious holidays. The museum is on Archbishop Kyprianos Square, on the eastern side of the old town, a quarter of an hour on foot from Ledra Street.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Byzantine Museum, Nicosia and choose by the reviews.

Pairing it with the cathedral

I’d do it the same morning as St John’s Cathedral, right next door, and the National Struggle Museum on the same square. That covers the archbishopric in about two hours. And I’d see it before visiting the painted churches of Troodos, because it teaches you how to look at what you’ll later find on the walls. The city’s other museums are ranked in museums in Nicosia.

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Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Nicosia before prices climb.