Editing Amathus (section)

===Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages===
Later, in the 4th century AD, Amasus became the see of a Christian bishop and continued to flourish until the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period. Of its bishops, Heliodorus was at the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 and Alexander at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787. In the late 6th century, Saint Ioannis Eleimonas (John the Charitable), protector of the [[Knights of St. John]], was born in Amathus and after 614 sent Theodorus, bishop of Amathus, to Jerusalem to ransom some slaves.<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1063-1066</ref><ref>Siméon Vailhé, v. ''1. Amathus'', in [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6561037d/f515.image ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''], vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 982-983</ref>

Today, Amathus is a see of the [[Church of Cyprus]] and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "[[Amathus, Transjordan|Amathus in Transjordan]]") as a [[titular see]] by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the [[Second Vatican Council]], has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last [[Latin Church|Latin]] [[titular bishop]] in 1984.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 830</ref>

[[Anastasius Sinaita]], the famous 7th-century prolific monk of [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai.<ref>A. Binggeli, 'Anastasius of Sinai' in D. Thomas (ed.) et al., Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 1 (600-900). Brill 2009, pp. 193-202; K.H. Uthemann, 'Anastasius the Sinaite' in A. Di Berardino, Patrology: the Eastern fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (+750). Cambridge 2006, 313-331</ref>

Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when [[Richard I of England|Richard Plantagenet]] won Cyprus by a victory there over [[Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus|Isaac Comnenus]] in 1191.<ref name="EB1911"/> The tombs were plundered and the stones from the beautiful edifices were brought to [[Limassol]] to be used for new constructions. Much later, in 1869, a great number of blocks of stone from Amathus were used for the construction of the [[Suez Canal]]. A ruined [[Byzantian Empire|Byzantine]] church marks its site.