Byzantine Museum & Art Galleries

The Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation sits beside the Cathedral of Saint John in the Archbishop's Palace complex in central Nicosia. It is the principal collection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons on the island — around 240 icons spanning the 5th to 19th centuries, drawn from Cypriot churches and monasteries across the south, with a substantial section of icons rescued from the north after 1974 (and from international auction houses where looted icons appeared).

The collection is arranged chronologically across two floors. The earliest icons are 6th-7th century (extremely rare survivors of the iconoclast period), including a striking Saint Mark from Lythrangomi. Macedonian-renaissance icons of the 9th-11th centuries follow, including a refined 10th-century Virgin Eleousa. The Komnenian period (11th-12th centuries) is well represented — sophisticated court-school work in the linear style. Post-1204 (after the Latin conquest) icons show Italian and Western influences alongside the continuing Byzantine tradition. Late Byzantine (Palaiologan, 14th-15th century) icons include some of the finest in the collection. Post-Byzantine and Cretan-school icons (15th-17th centuries) round out the chronological coverage.

The recovered icons section is particularly moving. Several major works — including the famous 6th-century Christ Antiphonitis frescoes, the apse of Panagia Kanakaria, and others — were stolen from churches in occupied northern Cyprus after 1974, smuggled internationally, and recovered through major court cases in the 1990s and 2000s. The story is told with restraint and dignity in dedicated rooms.

Insider tips. Allow 90-120 minutes for a careful visit. Entry is around 4 EUR. Photography is generally not permitted (or only without flash) — confirm at the desk. The museum is closed Sundays. English signage is good and informative. Combine with the Cyprus Folk Art Museum in the same complex.

Combinations. The Archbishop's Palace complex is itself a half-day: Byzantine Museum, Folk Art Museum, Cathedral of Saint John. Add a wider Nicosia day — Cyprus Museum, Leventis Municipal Museum, Laiki Geitonia, the Venetian walls, the Ledra Street crossing.

Bring. Comfortable shoes, water, modest dress (the museum is in a religious complex). When. Tuesday-Saturday; cool months are best for combining with the wider old-town walking. The Byzantine Museum is one of the most important icon collections in the eastern Mediterranean and an essential complement to the painted churches of the Troodos.