Famagusta Cathedral Reconsidered: On Architectural Transfer in Rayonnant Gothic ca. 1300

Abstract This article is devoted to a stylistic analysis of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Famagusta, Cyprus, known as Famagusta Cathedral (now the Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque), begun around 1300. The special relevance of the cathedral comes from the fact that it owes its shape to masters well acquainted with the buildings of both France and Germany, and thus it demonstrates the complex and at the same time ambiguous stylistic character of the architecture around the year 1300. This study goes beyond purely formal analysis of the church, however: The case of Famagusta Cathedral and its anonymous designer provides a starting point for a discussion of the modes of long-distance transfer of architectural forms in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, which in turn are inextricably linked to the question of the education and career patterns of master masons and to the ways in which they were employed by clients from distant countries.