The earliest history of the Bedesten is documented archaeologically by a Byzantine basilica, fragments of which are preserved inside the current building.

[3] Under the Lusignan kings the subsequent history of the building is not well documented, but some historians, including Camille Enlart, proposed that after the fall of Acre in the late twelfth century, English monks who were followers of Thomas Becket established a new Latin church on this site and dedicated it to Saint Nicholas.

[4] This reading of the sources is not, however, universally accepted in view of the minor role played by the Knights of Saint Thomas in the history of the Latin east.

During the Venetian rule of the island, the Bedesten was used as the metropolitan bishopric building by the Orthodox church,[1] and dedicated to Mary as Panagia Hodegetria.

The patrons were noble Cypriot families, their identity documented in part by the coats of arms carved immediately above the main entrance.

The British undertook some renovation of the building, which had been damaged due to weather and earthquakes, but this was not successful in that it did not reflect some of the original architecture.

The entrance is through a very ornate Gothic-style gate, with elements of the Italian Renaissance architecture added later and a statuette of St Nicholas.

[4] Between June 2004 and 2009, a project of renovation, funded by the European Union and the Evkaf Administration, was undertaken by the UNDP PFF.