Synesius of Lysi

Venerable Synesius of Lysi lived as an ascetic near Lysi, in the Ailasyka region of Cyprus, at some time between the tenth and twelfth centuries, in a carved cave that had been a Roman tomb chamber. By his holiness and wisdom he gained great fame. After his repose he was honoured as a saint and a small vaulted chapel was built in his honour, around which a monastic complex developed. In the last years of the Turkish rule the little monastery stopped functioning.

During works in 1903 an ornamented coffin with the saint's relic was found under the floor. For fear of the British authorities, the church committee buried the relic inside the chapel. The coffin returned to the area and remained there until 1974, when, after the Turkish invasion, the chapel was looted and the coffin with the relic disappeared. The chapel still stands abandoned.

He should not be confused with Saint Synesius, bishop of Karpasia. A fresco of him in the Chapel of Saint Demetrios at Dali (1317) shows that he was widely known. He is commemorated on 1 March (new style) and venerated locally, in Cyprus.