Myrtou (Greek: Μύρτου, Turkish: Çamlıbel) is a town in the Kyrenia District of Cyprus, north of the city of Morphou.

Archaeological excavations in two areas of the village Stephania and Pighades brought to light valuable findings.

The village for many years had a limited number of people because the administrator of the monastery's property was the Metropolis of Kyrenia.

People could buy a plot of land build their house and stay in their village rather than to move to the towns.

[2][5] About a mile from Myrtou, to the south, lies Karpasia, a Maronite village, whose church is of ancient foundation but later much rebuilt.

The church has been greatly altered and enlarged and around 17th-18th centuries the original nave was demolished and rebuilt with a remarkable loggia of pointed arches and vaulting (south side).

In 1765 the fact of crowds being here on that day from all over Cyprus was used by Khalil, governor of Kyrenia, to hatch a plot to take over the island.

[8] Since the land around the monastery did not yield, in 1950 the Metropolis of Kyrenia decided to abandon it, and the buildings fell into disrepair.

[9] The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the (bi-communal) Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus, and EU started conservation works to St Panteleimon monastery on 9 October 2015.

[11] In the 1990s the area was a major military encampment and travellers on the road from Kormakitis to Nicosia were liable to be stopped at a checkpoint at Myrtou.

It came within range of artillery in the mountains above Lapithos, Contemporary reports show that during the August cease fire, the Greek and Turkish armies were only 100 yards apart.