Antiphonitis

The Church of Antiphonitis is a 12th-century Byzantine domed church in the Kyrenia hill district of northern Cyprus. A Gothic-influenced narthex was added in the 15th century under Crusader rule, making the building a layered record of two distinct eras. After the 1974 partition of Cyprus, the church's rare Byzantine frescoes — including a 12th-century Christ Pantokrator — were systematically looted and sold on the international art market, a case that has been pursued in courts for decades and remains a symbol of cultural loss. Today the partly ruined structure is reachable via rough tracks and stands largely stripped of its frescoes, offering a sobering encounter with the consequences of the island's division.