The Maronites, originally from Syria, constitute the largest Christian community in modern-day Lebanon. Their church conducts its services in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. In Cyprus, they comprise a small community, the second largest Christian community after the Orthodox community. Members of the Maronite community distinguish themselves in the private and public sectors, thus contributing to the island’s development and prosperity culturally, economically, and socially. Many Maronite personalities excel today in Cyprus in business, education, politics, the sciences, culture, and the arts.

According to the official demographic data of 2011, the Maronites numbered 5,000; 75 per cent of them live in Nicosia, 15 per cent in Limassol, 5 per cent in Larnaka, and 5 per cent in Kochatis, Marki and Pafos, as well as in the occupied villages of Asomatos, Karpasha and Kormakitis that was the largest Maronite village located in Northern Cyprus and its inhabitants spoke Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA), which contains Arabic terms of Aramaic origin, the language of Christ. In 1993, UNESCO considered this language as one of the Endangered Languages.

It is important to note, however, that historically, Cyprus has served as a haven, not only for the Maronites but for many Lebanese from various denominations as their own country underwent civil wars and invasions by the Israelis. During the civil war of 1975 – 1990, thousands of Lebanese families fled to Cyprus. Some stayed there for short periods before leaving overseas, while others remained there or returned to Lebanon after becoming safe. Similarly, over 60,000 Lebanese fled to the island during the 2006 war with "Israel". Since the start of the crisis in 2019, many Lebanese have fled their bankrupt country for Cyprus. Their number has increased significantly following the devastating August 4, 2020, explosion in Beirut’s port that killed over 200 people.

Additionally, Cyprus is also attracting Lebanese companies and investors. Several Lebanese firms have relocated to Cyprus with their employees and their families. In real estate, many Lebanese have purchased apartments and properties in the coastal cities of Cyprus, estimated over 400 between 2016 and 2021. Furthermore, Cyprus is known for being the marriage destination for many Lebanese who choose a civil marriage, an option that is not available for them in Lebanon.

The first appearance of Maronites in Cyprus dates back to the late 7^th century (686 AD), during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian II. Fearing religious clashes and persecution by their religious opponents, they fled to the island that became a haven for them. In 938, after the Arab destruction of Saint Maron’s Monastery on the Orontes River in Apamea, Syria, a large wave of Maronites left the region for some neighbouring countries, amongst them Cyprus. A second large wave of Maronites fled and settled on the island in the late 12^th century, after its purchase by the Frankish king of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan. The king “offered various incentives to Christians of the East to settle in Cyprus.”[1] He encouraged the settlement of Maronites, in particular, and offered them opportunities to own land to bolster the Catholic presence on the island and to use them as military garrisons.  These people established settlements in the Kyrenia Mountains in the north and the Karpas Peninsula. Famagusta, in particular, was an attractive refuge to Maronites, Nestorians, Jacobites and Melkites. With the fall and occupation of Tripoli and Acre between 1289 and 1291 by the Muslim Mamluks, more Christian refugees flocked to Cyprus, especially to Famagusta, which became, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and until the Genoese seized it in 1373, a centre of commerce and “one of the most vibrant and dynamic cities in the Mediterranean.”[2] They enjoyed special privileges under the king’s administration, and their number increased to about 60.000. They resided in 62 villages, mainly around the Pentadactylos mountain range. By the early 14^th century, their number increased to about 80,000 in 72 villages. The Monastery of Saint George of Attalou in the Kharcha region on the Pentadactylos mountain range was established.

During the Venetian era, the Maronites were treated harshly and their churches were confiscated. Many of them were forced to convert to the Latin rite to survive. Their villages were reduced to 33. As stated by Andrekos Varnava, “Venetian rule was very harsh and it is possible that the Maronites lost half their settlements in the transfer of power from Frankish to Venetian rule.”[3] Accordingly, Maronite migration to Cyprus was affected by the socio-political situation in their places of origin and the island's development.[4] Factors such as ‘the rising tide of Islam’, the massacres committed by the Mamluks in the Crusader Principality of Tripoli, the destruction of Kisserwan during the first decade of the fourteenth century, and the recurrent plague, all caused waves of Maronite migration to the island, which served as the natural asylum of the Christians in Syria, the Lebanon and Cilicia.[5]