Hieromartyrs Heraclides and Myron of Cyprus

Episcopate at Tamassos

The sources relate that Heraclides was appointed Bishop of Tamassos in Cyprus by the Apostle Barnabas during a later visit to the island; some accounts name the Apostle Paul as having appointed him. He became one of the earliest hierarchs of the Cypriot Church and is counted among the most important local saints of the island.

As bishop he labored with his disciple Myron, whom he trained as his successor. The synaxarion tradition credits Heraclides with building churches and working many wonders among the people of Tamassos, and records that the two worked together with notable success in turning pagans to Christ. After Heraclides, Myron succeeded him as Bishop of Tamassos and continued the evangelistic work.

Martyrdom

The growing number of conversions provoked opposition from those who remained pagan. According to the tradition, both Heraclides and Myron were put to death by being burned alive, and they are therefore venerated as hieromartyrs — bishops who died for the faith.

Relics & Shrines

Tradition holds that Heraclides was buried in a cave that became associated with his memory. By the fourth century a church dedicated to the saint had been built there, and by the fifth century it had developed into a monastery. The Monastery of Saint Herakleides, near Politiko in the Tamassos region of Cyprus, was destroyed during the Arab raids of the seventh century and rebuilt several times; the present structures date largely to the eighteenth century under Archbishop Chrysanthos (1773), while the basilica dates to the fifteenth century. Remains of the earlier monastery, including a mausoleum with a mosaic floor bearing a monogram of Jesus, are preserved beneath the modern foundations.

After being dissolved in 1821, the monastery was later restored. On July 23, 1962 it re-opened as a women's monastic community; it was subsequently restored and expanded and houses a community of nuns.