Constructed in 1897-1900, the Church of St. Barbara (Ayia Varvara) centers the neighborhood of Kaimakli, Cyprus, located just outside the medieval walls of old town Nicosia. Saint Barbara, to whom many churches in Cyprus are dedicated, was a virgin martyr who is believed by some to have been killed in c. AD 307 in either Heliopolis, Egypt, or Heliopolis, Phoenicia (present-day Baalbek, Lebanon).
Venerated as one of the 14 Auxiliary Saints (Holy Helpers), she is invoked during thunderstorms, fire, hail and explosions, and is the patron saint of miners and artillerymen (most notably by the Order of St. Barbara maintained by the U.S. Army Field Artillery Association and U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Association).
According to legend, which dates only to the 7th century AD, Barbara was the beautiful daughter of a pagan, Dioscorus, who kept her guarded in a tower to protect her from harm. When she professed Christianity and refused marriage, he became enraged and took her to the provincial prefect, who ordered her to be tortured and beheaded. Dioscorus himself performed the execution and, on his return home, was struck by lightning and reduced to ashes.
