page_title: Armenians in Cyprus
section_title: Latin Era (1191–1570)
hierarchical_section_title: Armenians in Cyprus / History / Latin Era (1191–1570)
caption_attribution_description: English: Saint Lazarus' basilica in Larnaca Ελληνικά: Η βασιλική του Αγίου Λαζάρου στη Λάρνακα
context_page_description: Armenians in Cyprus or Armenian-Cypriots are ethnic Armenians who live in Cyprus. They are a recognized minority with their own language, schools and churches. Despite the relatively small number of Armenians living in Cyprus, the Armenian-Cypriot community has had a significant impact upon the Armenian diaspora and Armenian people. During the Middle Ages, Cyprus had an extensive connection with the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, while the Ganchvor monastery had an important presence in Famagusta. During the Ottoman Era, the Virgin Mary church and the Magaravank were very prominent. Certain Armenian-Cypriots were or are very prominent on a Panarmenian or international level and the fact that, for nearly half a century, the survivors of the Armenian Genocide have co-operated and co-existed peacefully with the Turkish-Cypriots is perhaps a unique phenomenon across the Armenian Diaspora. The emigration of a large number of Armenian-Cypriots to the United Kingdom has virtually shaped today's British-Armenian community.
context_section_description: After the purchase of Cyprus by titular Frankish King of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan in 1192, in his attempt to establish a western-type feudal kingdom, the latter sent emissaries to Europe, Cilicia and the Levant, resulting in a massive immigration of Armenians and other peoples. Because of their proximity, their commercial ties and a series of royal and nobility marriages, the Kingdom of Cyprus and the Kingdom of Cilicia became inextricably linked. In the subsequent centuries, thousands of Cilician Armenians sought refuge in Cyprus fleeing the Muslim attacks such as the Fall of Antioch. Cyprus became now the easternmost bulwark of Christianity; in 1441 the authorities of Famagusta invited Armenians from Cilicia to settle there. The Fall of Sis in April 1375 put an end to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia; its last King, Levon V, was granted safe passage to Cyprus. Although the Egyptian Mamelukes had taken over Cilicia, they were unable to maintain their hold on it; Turkic tribes eventually made their way to the region and established themselves there, leading to the conquest of Cilicia by Tamerlane. As a result, 30,000 Armenians left Cilicia in 1403 and settled in Cyprus, which continued to be ruled by the Lusignan dynasty until 1489. During the Frankish and the Venetian Eras, there were Armenian churches in Nicosia, Famagusta, Spathariko. Armenians were amongst the seven most important religious groups in Cyprus, in possession of stores and shops in the ports of Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos, as well as in the capital Nicosia, thus controlling a large segment of commerce. Additionally, Armenian was one of the eleven official languages of the Kingdom of Cyprus. According to chroniclers Leontios Makhairas, Georgios Boustronios and Florio Bustron, the Armenians of Nicosia had their own Prelature and used to live in their own quarter, called Armenia or Armenoyitonia. In Famagusta, a Bishopric was established in the late 12th century and Armenians lived around the Syrian quarter. Historical documents suggest the presence of an important monastic and theological centre there, at which Saint Nerses Lampronatsi is said to have studied.
  During the Middle Ages, Armenians in Cyprus were actively engaged in commerce, while some of them formed military garrisons in Kyrenia and elsewhere. A number of Armenians defended the Frankish Kingdom of Cyprus against the Genoese at Xeros, against the Saracens at Stylli village and against the Mamelukes in Limassol and Khirokitia. By 1425, the renowned Magaravank – originally the Coptic monastery of Saint Makarios near Halevga came under Armenian possession, as did sometime before 1504 the Benedictine/Carthusian nunnery of Notre Dame de Tyre or Tortosa in walled Nicosia. During the Latin Era, there was also a small number of Armenian Catholics in Nicosia, Famagusta and the Bellapais Abbey, where Lord Hayton of Corycus served as a monk. The prosperity of the inhabitants of Cyprus was brought to a halt by the harsh and corrupt Venetian administration and the iniquitous taxes they imposed. Their tyrannical rule, combined with adverse conditions, caused a noticeable decline in the island's population. According to historian Stephen de Lusignan, by the late Venetian Era, Armenians lived mainly in Famagusta and Nicosia and, in small numbers, at three "Armenian villages", Platani, Kornokipos and Spathariko.
caption: Saint Lazarus' basilica in Larnaca
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