St
Mamas' church in Morphou.
St Mamas, the lamb and the lion: altar painting in the church at Morphou.
Güzelyurt (Greek Morphou) is a market town in northwest Cyprus, in the not internationally recognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One of its attractive features is that it is the home of one of the many churches in the country dedicated to St. Mamas, popularly known as the patron saint of tax avoiders. The title was bestowed on him because he was a hermit living in very poor circumstances, and when the authorities tried to tax him, he evaded them. Soldiers were sent out and captured him, but on the way back to town, he saw a lion attacking a lamb, escaped the soldiers, saved the lamb, jumped on the lion's back, and in that way came to town. His bravery earned him exemption from taxation, hence his name.
The church is an icon museum now, and the illustrations of St. Mamas on his lion are quite amusing, as no one there at that time had seen a lion, so its portrayal is not exactly correct, in some versions giving it a human face.
See also