St Mamas Monastery.
St. Mamas Manastırı · Güzelyurt
Tier II · Worth a detour
A carved iconostasis over the tomb of St Mamas, beside the town museum.
What to see at St Mamas Monastery
- The late 16th-century iconostasis is carved and painted; its marble lower part carries figs, grapes, acorns and Venetian shields.
- Marble capitals, and grotesque-mask capitals on two nave columns, are left from the temple of Astarte beneath the church.
- On the west, a pointed portal of three orders and a triple window sit behind a three-arched portico; a domed drum with six windows marks the nave.
- North of the church lies the saint's sarcophagus, seen half from inside and half from outside.
History of St Mamas Monastery
- Byzantine period
- A small church is built over the temple of Astarte, whose traces remain in the foundations.
- 16th century
- The present yellow-stone church is built, with its carved iconostasis and Gothic touches on the west front.
- 18th century
- The church is reorganised and given its dome.
- Early 20th century
- The bell tower, the west and north porticoes and today's monastery buildings are added.
Visiting St Mamas Monastery
Allow about an hour together with the museum. The church stands in the centre of Güzelyurt, beside the Archaeology and Nature Museum, whose upper floor shows finds in chronological order. A car park is mapped about 100 m away, and the nearest mapped bus stop about 100 m.
About the St Mamas Monastery 3D model
Our 3D model is built from measured plans and sections plus photographs of the west and north faces. The south and east sides come from the drawings alone, and the heights rest on a single section.
Monuments near St Mamas Monastery
- Güzelyurt Railway MuseumA goods warehouse of the island's lost railway.
- Mavi KöşkA 1957 villa preserved as it was left in the 1970s.
- Lefke Mining MuseumThe story of Lefke's copper mines in the former Vasıf Palas.