CoffeeWalk: St. Lazarus and Cypriot Coffee

May 20, 2025 · Larnaca, Cyprus

#CoffeeWalk #2, Larnaca, Cyprus. TLDR: out of photo storage, saints are interesting, good coffee, big dinner.

I have maxed out my storage on my phone, so for the past several months, I have had to delete old photos in order to make new ones. It's fine because they are all stored in Google Photos anyway, but it makes them harder to access... Boohoo me. But long story short, I found an app that was taking up a lot of space and deleted it and magically regained 3 gigs. And now I have more runway in my photo storage than I have had for many months. It's great because yesterday I visited the Church of St. Lazarus but had no space on my phone, so I went back today as part of my second coffee walk.

The interior is both over the top, with gold-leafed paintings everywhere, but also leaves much of the beautiful architecture exposed. It used to have frescoes, but due to the humidity they deteriorated over time. The church used to have three domes, but they were torn down when the area was under Turkish control.

The church was built over the tomb of St. Lazarus in the 800s, and you can go into the dank little basement and visit that area. I found it creepy and claustrophobic. If I stood on my tiptoes, I would have hit my head on the ceiling. It had several stone caskets sitting open with the lids askew but empty. Idk which was his. His tomb was discovered and identified based on inscriptions. He was soon after whisked off to Constantinople and then France, where he has been 'lost' to time. BUT WAIT, not all of his bones went. The legend is that the town kept some back, and that is what is now on display in a silver box in the church. I find the early Christian saints and iconography and stories generally fascinating. You can't deny the ties between art, history, and religion. So that's my long way round to saying here's a coffee walk.

I also went back to the cafe I couldn't visit yesterday for traditional Cypriot coffee.

The stone exterior and bell tower of the Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca — The Church of St. Lazarus.

The stone nave, carved wooden seating, and painted icons inside the Church of Saint Lazarus

An ornate chandelier hanging beneath the stone arches of the Church of Saint Lazarus

The silver reliquary of Saint Lazarus displayed inside the church — Parts of St. Lazarus reside in this box. Warning. The next photo will be of bones. Skip it if that makes you queasy. Christian relics are kind of an odd thing. Bits and pieces of a person for worship.

Relics attributed to Saint Lazarus visible inside a glass-topped silver box — People were lined up to pray and to kiss this box of bones. Perhaps his greatest miracle is how this isn't the source of disease transmission.

The colorful bar and shelves inside a Larnaca cafe known for Cypriot coffee — Next stop, coffee in this cafe known for its Cypriot coffee, which is like a strong pour-over served espresso-sized and traditionally with sugar and a glass of water. I tried to visit yesterday, but influencers with video gear were pretty much making it unpleasant for anyone else. I like to think I do more quiet observation and less “look-at-me!” as I explore an area.

A small cup of Cypriot coffee held above a colorful mosaic table — Glamour shot.

Dark coffee grounds settled at the bottom of a small white cup — The sludge at the bottom of my cup.

Curved stalls and warm lighting inside Larnaca's modern market hall — After coffee, a walk through the modern market hall that would look at home in a convention center.

Blue-and-white evil eye wind chimes hanging at a market stall — Evil eye wind chimes. To ward off evil eye, not to give evil eye.

A large tabby cat standing between a bicycle and a shop wall — Chonky bike shop cat. I don't know if he is giving me the evil eye or not.

People wading far from shore in Larnaca's shallow blue sea — Whenever possible, a nice stop to stare at the waves is a great addition to any CoffeeWalk. It is so crazy to me how shallow the water is.

Stacy seated behind a table crowded with the first course of a Cypriot meze dinner — After a nice day, with a good wander, it was time for dinner. When we were on our flight over, I remarked to my husband how many large men were on our plane. I am not judging. I just hadn't seen that many Strong Man types on one flight before. Since we've been here, we have been quite shocked at the portion size of the food. Here we ordered the meze for two. This is only the first of three courses. We had enough food for at least four people. We made ourselves sick eating too much and didn't make it through half. This was not a one-off instance. But the good news—best hummus ever. EVER.

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