Monastery of St. Barnabas

The Story

The Monastery of St. Barnabas, near the ruins of ancient Salamis outside Famagusta, Cyprus, stands at the traditional burial place of the apostle Barnabas, the great companion of St. Paul. A Levite from Cyprus whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas, son of encouragement (Acts 4:36-37), he sold his property for the early Christian community, introduced the converted Saul to the apostles, and set out with Paul from Antioch on the first missionary journey, which began on this very island. According to the traditional account, Barnabas returned to evangelize his native Cyprus and was martyred at Salamis around the year 61. In 478, Archbishop Anthemius of Cyprus, guided by a dream, is said to have discovered the apostle's tomb nearby, with a copy of the Gospel of Matthew resting on his breast. The find moved the Emperor Zeno to finance a great basilica at the site, and tradition links it to the recognition of the Church of Cyprus's ancient autonomy. The monastery buildings seen today date largely from a rebuilding of 1756, with earlier Byzantine work incorporated in the church. Monks lived here until the events of 1974, when the site came under Turkish administration in Northern Cyprus; the church now serves as an icon museum and the cloisters as an archaeological museum. A short walk from the monastery, a small mausoleum chapel covers the rock-cut chamber venerated as the apostle's tomb, where Christian visitors still descend to pray. For Catholic pilgrims the site is a rare, tangible link to the Acts of the Apostles: the resting place, according to tradition, of the man whose generosity and encouragement helped carry the Gospel from Jerusalem into the Gentile world.

Church Recognition

St. Barnabas is venerated by the whole Church as an apostle, with his feast kept on June 11 on the General Roman Calendar; the monastery itself is a historic foundation of the Church of Cyprus that today functions as a museum, while the traditional tomb nearby remains a place of Christian veneration.

Catholic Teaching

Veneration at the tombs of the apostles expresses the Church's apostolic foundation (CCC 857) and the ancient Christian practice of honoring the relics and resting places of the martyrs (CCC 1674).

Plan Your Visit

Open only what you need. Expand all

Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

Visitors may tour the former monastery church and its icon and archaeology collections and pray at the small mausoleum chapel over the traditional tomb of St. Barnabas a short walk away; the apostle's feast is celebrated on June 11.

Go Deeper

Read the apostle's story in the Acts of the Apostles (chapters 4, 9, 11-15), the Catechism on the Church's apostolic character (CCC 857), and standard guides to the Christian antiquities of Cyprus for the history of the tomb's discovery under Archbishop Anthemius.