Twin Churches

Among the many churches in Famagusta, these two medieval edifices have an exhilarating story to tell.

The 13th century officially named Templars Church of St. John and the Hospitallers Church of St. John were built alongside one another within the same century, and together are known as the Twin Churches.

The larger of the two belonging to the Templars dates to the earlier side of the century and the Hospitallers was completed towards the tail end, and together they were the centres of the two orders in Cyprus.

Also known as the Knights Templar, they formed one of the three great military orders of knighthood, founded around 1119 to protect the pilgrims who flocked to the Holy Land after the First Crusade – they quickly rose to legendary wealth and influence for the two centuries to come.

At the head of the order was the Master of the Temple at Jerusalem until 1291.

With the gradual loss of their possessions in the Holy Land and the fall of the Latin kingdom, the Templars relocated their headquarters to Cyprus which they had once previously acquired from King Richard I of England in 1192.

The Hospitallers were a Christian organisation founded in Jerusalem in 1080, founded by St. John the Almoner of Amathus, son of the Byzantine Governor of Cyprus Epiphanios, and provided care for the poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land, and soon became the other strong armed Christian force in the region.

After the first Crusade it became a military order, charged with the upkeep and defence of the Holy Land. They soon became the most powerful Christian groups in the area, enjoying similar privileges and prosperity to those of the Templars, and, like them, sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus in 1291 after the fall of Acre, the crusaders’ last Levantine bastion.

After their heyday, the two famous fighting orders of the Crusaders’ period met with very contrasting fates – following the failed papal attempt to merge them into one, the Hospitallers were able to establish a lasting rule in Rhodos, while the Templars, persecuted by Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V were dissolved and many of them burned at stake.

The Hospitallers became involved in Cypriot politics, and upon the dissolution of the Templars, they took over the Cypriot properties of the Templars. Nonetheless, they constructed their own church abutting the older church – hence the Twin Churches of Famagusta, a testimony to the two rivalling orders’ sojourn in Cyprus.

A later addition saw a passage built connecting the churches. Above the doorway of the Templars, you can see a small rose window – above the opposing door, the coats of arms of the Knights Hospitallers are still visible. The belfry of this church is a much later addition, dating to the 16th century. Various Byzantine frescoes from the same period can be seen to this day on these walls.

These churches have been since restored and are an historic site for thousands of visitors each year.

A hundred metres over from the Twin Churches is the Somineli Ev or Chimney House, a hybrid of exterior Venetian architecture meets interior Ottoman design. The building has been modified since is used for arts and crafts exhibitions.