It was a flourishing Jewish colony and was evangelized by St. Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:5), who was martyred there. The city was destroyed after the Jewish revolt of 116-117 A.D. and later by the earthquakes of 332 and 342 A.D. Constantius II rebuilt it, and it took the name of Constantia, where the episcopal see was established. The Arabs demolished it in 648. The most renowned of its bishops is St. Epiphanius (367-403), to whom a basilica was dedicated, the remains of which have been identified.
BIBL.: S. Murray, Excavations in Cyprus, London 1900; E. Oberhummer, Constantia, in Pauly-Wissowa, IV, cols. 953-57. Enrico Josi