The church is located on the coastal site of Lambousa, the ancient and late antique city of Lapethos (Kyrenia district). Site excavation reports have been published in ARCA 1915, 7-12, RCAM 1926, 10-11, RDAC 1935, 4 and BSA 41 (1946) 74-78. The episcopal see of Lapethos is attested in the notitiae episcopatuum from the 9th until the 12th century [Darrouzès (1981) 234 and 338], in the 11th-century Krinia inventory [Darrouzès (1959) 49-50, Constantinides and Browning (1993) 58-59] and in 1196 [Saint Sophia cartulary: Coureas and Schabel (1997) 86 and 90, Edbury (1975/77)]. Individual bishops are attested at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 [Hackett (1901) 319, Mansi (1901-1927) VI.568 and 578], in 655 [Life of Saint Spyridon: Van den Ven (1953) 90] and in the 1170s [Life of Leontios of Jerusalem: Chatzipsaltes (1954) 37; Tsougarakis (1993) 126; see also Papacostas (1995) Gazetteer 9]. A monastery on the site is attested since the 15th century [Papacostas (1999a) 6.B.I.1].
Description: The domed pier cross-in-square structure was built in ashlar masonry over the nave of a late 4th-century basilica, incorporating its large apse with the synthronon [Jeffery (1918) 319-20 and Gunnis (1936) 315-17 (where the apse is dated to the 16th century); AR 1953, 33; Papageorgiou (1964) 212-14, Papageorgiou (1985b) 304, Papageorgiou (1993) 43; MKE 3, 96-97], the opus sectile floor [Michaelides (1993) 72], and other architectural elements for the templon. The narthex with a domed central and barrel vaulted lateral bays was added later [Papacostas (1995) Gazetteer 9.d.I.iii].
Dating: The cross-in-square church probably dates to the 11th / early 12th century The suggested date is based on the architectural features [Papageorgiou (1982a) 471 and (1993) 43; MKE 3, 96-97; Papacostas (1995) 25-26] and the apse frescoes (officiating prelates) of the first half of the 12th century [Papageorgiou (1990) 214, n.93]. The narthex was added most probably in the 12th century [Papageorgiou (1982b) 444-46; Papacostas (1995) Gazetteer 9.d.I.iii].
Later additions / alterations: A rib-vaulted three-bay exonarthex and a porch were added in late medieval times [Enlart/Hunt (1987) 204-5; Jeffery (1918) 319-20].
Modern repairs: The walls and vaults were treated, while the late windows on the façades and the apse wall were replaced by smaller windows [ARDA 1953, 13 and 1963, 11].
Early literature: The church is briefly mentioned by Drummond in 1750 and in the 19th century by Ross (1845: a founder’s tomb reported), Unger and Kotschy (1862) and Enlart (1896); and described by Jeffery [Cobham (1908) 298; Ross (1852) 147; Unger and Kotschy (1865) 517-18; Enlart/Hunt (1987) 202-5; Jeffery (1907a) 5-6].
Views: Soteriou (1935) pl. 25, 26 and 145a; Enlart/Hunt (1987) pl. XXIX.
Plan / section: Jeffery (1915/16) 120 [inaccurate plan]; Soteriou (1935) 23 [showing various phases]; Papageorgiou (1986) 499 [based on Soteriou, with the addition of the basilica remains].