Cyprus - Santa Maria in via Lata

Using the remains of ancient buildings from the imperial era, this church was erected in the seventh century, and took the name of the street on which it stands, which was the first urban section of the Via Flaminia.

Large-scale renovation work undertaken in the Holy Year of 1650 completely transformed the church and gave it the Baroque appearance that it bears today.

Tradition identifies this very site as the one in which Saint Paul was kept prisoner. Indeed, to this day, there stands in the underground section a pillar to which he is said to have been tied, and a well from which a divine spring is said to have flowed, in answer to his prayers.