On 15 August and 30 November, coachloads of Greek Cypriots make the long trek to the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, near the tip of the Karpas Peninsula. The object of their pilgrimage is to visit this site where miracles are reputed to take place.
Long-awaited restoration began on the monastery in 2013 and may be closed when you visit. Ask at the Yenierenköy tourist information office. If it’s open, travellers are welcome at the monastery throughout the year.
The monastery’s reputation for miracles was obtained during the time of St Andrew (the patron saint of sailors), who reputedly restored the sight of a ship’s captain when he arrived from Palestine. Since then attested-to miracles range from curing blindness and epilepsy to healing the crippled and granting extraordinary wishes.
Before 1974 the monastery was well supported by its devotees and pilgrims but since then – isolated from its patrons and with only a few Greek Cypriot caretakers – the great monastery began a slow and steady deterioration. Turkish Cypriot authorities began to allow a small number of pilgrims to enter the North on organised visits to the monastery from 1996. Today, with the border crossings opened, the pilgrimage is far simpler and the faithful can visit this site of holy miracles unescorted.
