The Church of Saint Lazarus is named after Lazarus of Bethany, the subject of a miracle recounted in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus raises him from the dead. According to Orthodox tradition, sometime after the Resurrection of Christ, Lazarus was forced to flee Judea and came to Cyprus where he was appointed by Paul and Barnabas as the first Bishop of Kition (present-day Larnaca). He lived for thirty more years and on his death was buried there for the second and last time.