# Neophytos of Cyprus

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Cypriot Orthodox monk, priest and sometime hermit (1134–1214)

**Neophytos of Cyprus**, **Saint Neophytos**, **Neophytos the Recluse** ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): Άγιος Νεόφυτος ο Έγκλειστος; 1134–1214) was a Cypriot [Orthodox](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church) monk, [priest](/source/Priest), and sometime [hermit](/source/Hermit), whose writings preserved a history of the early crusades.

## Life

Neophytos was born in the mountain village of [Kato Drys](/source/Kato_Drys) near [Pano Lefkara](/source/Pano_Lefkara), [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus), to farming parents Athanasios and Eudoxia,[1] one of eight children. An arranged marriage planned by his parents ended with him fleeing to the Monastery of Saint John Chrysostomos in [Koutsovendis](/source/Koutsovendis).[2] After much ado, the marriage contracts were broken and Neophytos went back to the monastery as a novice, becoming a tonsured monk in 1152.[3] During this time he learned to read and write and was eventually appointed as assistant [sacristan](/source/Sacristan).[4] Although Neophytos wanted to be a hermit, his [abbot](/source/Abbot) declined to let him go, citing his youth.[3]

In 1158, however, Neophytos was allowed to make a pilgrimage to the [Holy Land](/source/Holy_Land). While he was there he unsuccessfully sought out hermits who might sponsor him. He returned to Cyprus, but still wanted to pursue the hermitic life. He tried to escape to [Mount Latmos](/source/Be%C5%9Fparmak_Mountains) in Asia Minor, but was arrested at [Paphos](/source/Paphos) upon his attempted embarkation.[5] He was soon released from prison, but the guards had stolen his travel funds, so, in June 1159, he went to the hilly area above Paphos, where he found a cave that had been used by a previous hermit. He enlarged the space, eventually creating three caves known today as the Cell, the Bema and the Naos.[6] Neophytos's life as a hermit attracted the religious in the area who brought him food and gifts. His air of sanctity brought many to visit him, and in 1170 Vasilios (Basil) Kinnamos, the Bishop of Paphos, ordained him as a priest and required him to take a disciple, which started the monastery which now bears his name.

Neophytos wrote a chronicle titled Περὶ τῶν κατὰ χώραν Κύπρον σκαιῶν (*On the calamities against the country of Cyprus*) dated to 1196, which is one of the few Greek primary sources that record the events of the [Third Crusade](/source/Third_Crusade) in Cyprus and the pursuit of the Byzantine ruler of Cyprus, [Isaakios Komninos](/source/Isaac_Komnenos_of_Cyprus) by the English king [Richard the Lionheart](/source/Richard_I_of_England). Neophytos took a judgmental stance against the crusaders and his chronicle is anti-Latin.[7]

## Legacy

[Saint Neophytos Monastery](/source/Agios_Neophytos_Monastery) was named in his honor.

## Publication history

- Σάθας, K. [Νεόφυτου πρότερον μοναχού και Εγκλείστου, περί των κατά την χώραν Κύπρον σκαιών](https://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/php/pdf_pager.php?filename=%2Fvar%2Fwww%2Fanemi-portal%2Fmetadata%2F9%2Fb%2F0%2Fattached-metadata-181-0000011%2F71268_02.pdf&rec=%2Fmetadata%2F9%2Fb%2F0%2Fmetadata-181-0000011.tkl&do=71268_02.pdf&width=364&height=580&pagestart=1&maxpage=821&lang=en&pageno=165&pagenotop=165&pagenobottom=161). *Μεσαιωνική Βιβλιοθήκη Τόμος Β΄. Χρονογράφοι Βασιλείου Κύρπου*. Εν Βενετία: Τύποις του Χρόνου (1873).

## See also

- [Kingdom of Cyprus](/source/Kingdom_of_Cyprus)

- [Leontios Machairas](/source/Leontios_Machairas)

- [Georgios Boustronios](/source/Georgios_Boustronios)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Eudoxia was her assumed name as a nun in her later life. (Galatariotou)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Galatariotou-13_2-0)** Galatariotou, Catia (2002) *The Making of a Saint: The Life, Times and Sanctification of Neophytos the Recluse* Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, [page 13](https://books.google.com/books?id=QUDFu-JTIPMC&pg=PA13), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-52188-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-52188-8)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Galatariotou-14_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Galatariotou-14_3-1) Galatariotou (2002) page 14

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Kakoulli_4-0)** Kakoulli, Ioanna and Fischer, Christian (2009) ["An innovative noninvasive and nondestructive multidisciplinary approach for the technical study of the Byzantine wall paintings in the Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Paphos, Cyprus"](http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120402201958/http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html) 2012-04-02 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC; archived [here](https://web.archive.org/web/20101124072541/http://doaks.org//research/byzantine/doaks_eid_2424.html) by [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) on 24 November 2010

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Kakoulli (2009) indicates that the sources do not state the basis for his arrest. But Galatariotou (2002) indicates that it was because he was mistaken for a fugitive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** *The complex also includes the Narthex and the Refectory found adjacent to the principal caves as well as the Skevophylakion, the Ayiastyrion (which is the room for St. Neophytos sanctification and holy attendance) and the New Zion located above the Narthex and the Naos.* Kakoulli (2009)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Coureas, Nicholas (2013). ["The Conquest of Cyprus during the Third Crusade According to Greek Chronicles from Cyprus"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577683). *The Medieval Chronicle*. **8**: 193–204. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1567-2336](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1567-2336). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [48577683](https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577683). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220323102958/https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577683) from the original on 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2021-03-21.

## Further reading

- Coureas, Nicholas (2003) *The foundation rules of medieval Cypriot monasteries: Makhairas and St. Neophytos* Cyprus Research Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-9963-0-8080-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9963-0-8080-9)

- Englezakis, Benedict (1995) *Studies on the History of the Church of Cyprus, 4th–20th Centuries* (translated from Modern Greek by Norman Russell) Variorum, Aldershot, Hampshire, England, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-86078-486-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-86078-486-9)

- Epstein, Ann Wharton (1981) "Formulas for Salvation: A Comparison of Two Byzantine Monasteries and their Founders" *Church History* 50(4): pp. 385–400, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/3167393](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3167393)

- Galatariotou, Catia (2002) *The Making of a Saint: The Life, Times and Sanctification of Neophytos the Recluse* Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-52188-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-52188-8)

- Mango, C. A. and Hawkins, E. J. W. (1966) "The Hermitage of St. Neophytos and Its Wall Paintings" *Dumbarton Oaks Papers* 20: pp. 119–206

- Papageōrgiou, Athanasios (1998) *The Monastery of Agios Neophytos: History and Art (a short guide)* Holy Royal and Stavropegiac Monastery of Saint Neophytos, Nicosia, Cyprus, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-9963-614-03-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9963-614-03-5)

- Tsiknopoullos, Ioannis P. (1965) *The Encleistra and Saint Neophytos* Zavallis Press, Leukosia, Cyprus, [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [254973241](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/254973241)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Neophytos of Cyprus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neophytos_of_Cyprus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neophytos_of_Cyprus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.