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The
Greek Cypriots speak Greek and belong to the
Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus. This is one of
the oldest churches of the world and was founded
by the Apostles Mark and Barnabas in 45AD when
they left the Holy Land to spread
Christianity.
Cyprus managed to
stay autocephalous because one Archbishop of
Cyprus, Anthemios, in the Byzantine period,
managed to prove that the church of Cyprus was
founded by the Apostles. He had a dream in which
St Barnabas himself appeared and showed him where
he was buried. Anthemios went to the spot and
found a coffin in a cave under a tree, in which
lay the saint's body with a copy of the Gospel of
St Matthew on it, which the saint always used to
carry with him.
After this the
Church of Cyprus remained autocephalous and the
Archbishop of Cyprus was given special privileges
which he still maintains to this day. He is
allowed to carry a sceptre instead of a
shepherd's staff, wears a red cloak and signs his
name in red ink.
The Turkish Cypriots
speak Turkish and are Moslems. Cyprus has one of
the most revered Moslem shrines in the world, the
Tekke of Halal Sultan, which is the burial place
of a relative of the Prophet, who was killed near
Larnaca when she fell off her horse during Arab
raids of Cyprus in the 5th century . |
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