The history of the Church Museum of Saint Lazarus began in 1922. Dozens of Byzantine icons and Church objects were collected in the building of the school of mutual learning, and thus the first Museum of Saint Lazarus was created.
These artifacts were initially transferred to the Cyprus Department of antiquities and then to the Larnaca district Museum, which opened in 1948 and was located in a medieval castle on the city's coast in the Turkish Cypriot quarter.
The Museum's collection was damaged in 1963-64. It took many years to restore the Church Museum. The Museum had operated since 1990 only in two halls for more than 18 years.
The Museum was expanded in 2008, upon the recommendation of the Church Committee, and some of the halls were renovated. The official opening ceremony of the new Byzantine Museum was held on April 16, 2011, by Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus.
Now the Byzantine Museum of Saint Lazarus consists of five halls with an area of 145 square meters.
The Museum's collection includes a large number of truly unique masterpieces of religious and historical significance, belonging to the authorship of Byzantine masters. The Museum's exposition is based on icons, including wood carvings, as well as items of Church utensils, ancient scrolls and manuscripts, several ancient copies of the Bible (even handwritten ones), magnificent sculptures made of wood, as well as mosaic samples (ancient and modern).
One of the most precious exhibits of the Museum is a rare image of Saint Lazarus, painted in the 12th century. The icon depicts Saint Lazarus in the Episcopal vestments. Another ancient icon, that is unfortunately badly damaged by fire, miraculously preserved the image of Saint Lazarus-in one hand he holds the gospel, and the other is folded for a blessing.