Cyprus 2018

Cyprus - A beautiful Spring Adventure

  In my first holidays in 2018, I went to Cyprus with my girlfriend for two weeks to explore the wondeful nature. During the time there, we took a lot of time for hiking and riding the bicycle to see many places and for enjoying beautiful blooming flowers and plants. The journey started in Larnaca, the third-largest city of the country, located on the southern coast of Cyprus. We made a little walk to see the harbor and the beach. Moreover, we saw the Larnaca Castle, which was converted into a museum after the Cypriot Independance to show antiques and wall paintings from Early Christian, Byzantine and Post Byzantine Cyprus and the Church of Saint Lazarus, a late-9th century Greek Orthodox Church, named for Lazarus of Bethany. Finally, we went to the Lebanese Maqam Al-Sultan Restaurant for having our first dinner, a mixed plate with typical dishes. 
 

   The next morning, we woke up very early for starting our first bicycle tour. The first destination on our route was the Hala Sultan Tekke, a Mosque in the Ottoman architectural style on the west bank of the Larnaca Salt Lake. The whole complex contains a mosque, mausoleum, minaret, cemetery and living quarters for men and women. On the way to the mosque, we also saw many beautiful flowers and plants, which were blooming.  

    The next destination was the Lighthouse of Pervolia, which is a village in the Larnaca District. During the way, we passed the Tower of Regina, a Venetian watchtower, which was built during the Venetian occupation 1489-1570. In Pervolia, we made a little break for seeing the beach too.

  After the little break, we wanted to see the Panagia Angeloktisti Church in the village of Kiti, located 12 km southwest of Larnaca. It's a Byzantine church, which was, according to local legends, built by angels for the refugees of the Arab invasions. Nevertheless, the church was destroyed around the 7th and 8th centuries and finally reconstructed after Byzantine rules in the 11th century. Since 2015, the church is on the list of Tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  During the next 25 km, we passed the villages of  Mazotos and Alaminos, where we were surprised by the great lemon and tangerine plantations. We took some of the tangerines and continued our bicycle tour to Khirokitia. The tour itself was getting more exhausting, because of the hilly streets, but the beautiful nature was our incentive to go on.

  Arrived in Khirokitia, an archaeological site dating from the Neolithic age, discovered by the director of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, Porphyrios Dikaios, in 1934, we were quite impressed by the prehistoric sites, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. After exploring the old buildings, we went on hiking in the nature trails of Khirokitia. It was absolutely breathtaking to hike there and to enjoy the atmosphere and the landscape. We also discovered a small cave during our walking tour. Then, we had to go back to Larnaca, where we enjoyed the sunset at the Salt Lake. Finally, we finished our day with the bicycle tour of almost 100 km and a hiking tour of additional 10 km.

  From Larnaca, we took the bus to Nicosia (Turkish: Lefkoşa), the capital of Cyprus. We stayed in Northern Nicosia, so we had to cross the border to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state, which is only recognized by Turkey. Our hotel was close to the Atatürk Meydani and the Kyrenia Gate with the Atatürk monument, which was built in 1567 by Venetians and restored by the Ottomans in 1821. The gate was part of the city walls and was used for transport to the Northern areas of the countries. 

   Then, we went to Büyük Han, the largest caravanserai on Cyprus, which was constructed by the Ottomans in 1572. Nowadays, there are many cafes and souvenir shops, whereas in the centre of the courtyard is a mosque. After drinking a Cyprus Coffee, we also went around the narrow alleys of the old town and visited the Selimiye Mosque, a former Roman Catholic cathedral,  and the Haydar Pasha Mosque, which both were converted into a mosque in 1570. Nearby the Selimiye Mosque, there was also the Bedesten, a former church, which was converted to a covered market by the Ottomans.

  The next day, we made a one-day tour to Kyrenia on the northern coast of the country. The city is famous for its historic harbour and castle and is described as touristic capital of Northern Cyprus due to the nightlife, the numerous hotels and the beautiful beach. The Kyrenia Castle, which is located at the east end of the old harbour, might have been built in the 7th century by the Byzantines to protect the city against the Arab raids. When the Venetians came to Cyprus, they enlarged the castle in 1540 to its today's appearance, even if the Ottomans also changed the structure of the castle, which were later removed again under the British occupation. Inside the castle, there is the Ancient Shipwreck Museum with the Kyrenia ship wreck, which was discovered in 1965 and salvaged between 1967 and 1969. It was found out, that the ship was built around the time of Alexander the Great, so it's the oldest shipwreck known. The Kyrenia ship is also pictured on the 10, 20 and 50 cent coins of Cyprus.

  After exploring the harbor area and the castle of Kyrenia, we walked almost 10 km to the beautiful Bellapais Abbey. The abbey was constructed between 1198 and 1205 by French Augustinian monks, so the name of the abbey can be led back to the French language (Abbaye de la Belle Paix), which means the "Abbey of the Beautiful Peace". During the rule of Lusignan King Hugh III (1267-1284), the complex with the abbey and courtyard was expanded to have its mainly today's appearance. By 1570, the abbey was almost a ruin and should have been dismantled by the British in the 1870s to build streets out of its stones, but the stones weren't usable, so that a reconstruction was started in the 20th century. 
 

   When we finished our visit of the Bellapais Abbey, we took a taxi to the Saint Hilarion Castle, which lies on the Kyrenia mountain range and is the best preserved ruin of three former strongholds in this area. The castle is located at a height of 732 meter and was the inspiration for the castle in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, so it's really like a fairy tale castle. The castle has three divisions, where only the third and upper ward housed the royal family, which was surrounded by a thick Byzantine wall. The first area of the castle includes the main gate and outer walls, built by the Byzantines in the 11th century. By climbing up the stairs, it was possible to pass the cistern, stables, the main gatehouse and the castle chapel. The highlight was the Prince John's Tower on a rocky promontory, from where it was possible to have a great view over Kyrenia. 
 

  We also went to the Greek side of Nicosia after crossing the border in the Ledra Street. The Ledra Street is a major shopping and tourist street in the centre of the city, which links North and South Nicosia. By walking on the street, we saw the Shacolas Tower, the third highest building in Nicosa, constructed in the 1990s. We went to the top of the building to see the museum and the observatory to have a view over the city. After that, we went to the Pafos Gate, followed by the House of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios, which is situated near the Archbishop's Palace and the Church of Saint Anthony. As official interpreter (dragoman) of the Sultan since 1779, Kornesios could get a huge wealth and power, since this title was one of the most prestigious, a Christian person could get by the Ottoman authorities. Therefore, the house was built in 1793 with local sandstones and is a two-storey building, including a central garden with a fountain and a private bathhouse. Furthermore, it's the most important example of urban architecture of the last century of Ottoman domination, that survived in the old Nicosia. 

  We continued our sightseeing tour at the Pancyprian Gymnasium and the Severios Library, which were founded in 1812 and is the oldest high school still inoperation in Cyprus. After a round tour along the Venetian fortification wall with the five bastions in the Southern Nicosia, which was completed in 1568, where we also saw the Old Aqueduct of Nicosia, the Famagusta Gate and the Liberty Monument, which was erected after the libration from the British colonial rule in 1960, we went to the Hamam Omerye, a traditional Turkish bath, for relaxing.

  From Nicosia, we took a bus to Limassol, which has been ranked by Tripadvisor as the 3rd up-and-coming destination in the world. From there, we made another adventurous bicycle tour. After 20 km, we arrived at the ancient city and acropolis of Kourion, which is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Paphos. At first, we visited the Theatre of Kourion, which was excavated between 1935 and 1950 and originally constructed in the 2nd century BC with a capacity of 3500 spectators. Another impressive parts of the ruins of Kourion were the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, the mosaics in the House of the Gladiators and the House of Achilles, which has been interpreted as an apantitirion or a public reception hall for imperial and provincial dignitaries. 

   On the way back to Limassol, we took a break at Kolossi Castle, a former Crusader stronghold, which was built in the 13th century by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and rebuilt in 1454 in its present form. Nowadays, the castle consists of a single three-storey keep with a forecourt of approximately 40 metres. From the rooftop of the castle, it' was possible to see the beautiful vineyards, which produce the famous sweet dessert wine "Commandaria", the world's oldest named wine.  

   Another highlight of the days in Limassol was the visit of Petra tou Romiou, also known as Aphrodite's Rock. The mystical formation of huge rocks is located at the beach along the main road from Limassol to Paphos and according to the legend, it's the birthplace of Aphrodite the ancient Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty.

   From Limassol, a local guide picked us up in the hostel to bring us to the Paphos Forest, where we wanted to hike. It was so relaxing to walk in the calm area of the forest and explore many kinds of plants on the nature pathway. Unfortunately, it was raining from time to time, so it wasn't the perfect hiking experience, but nevertheless, it was a wonderful adventure. At the end, we arrived at the famous Venetian Kelefos Bridge, where we stopped for having a picnic break.  
 

   After hiking in the Paphos Forest, we went to the beautiful village of Omodos in the Troodos Mountains. We saw a stone-built monastery and walked around the cobblestone path around the village. This area is also very famous for its wineries, so we could luckily also try different kind of wines (for example Commandaria)  during a wine tasting.

    Our last destination during the holidays was the city of Paphos. Unfortunately, we both got a cold, so that our hiking plans to the Avakas Gorge were cancelled. But nevertheless, we could see the Paphos Archaeological Park, which contains the major part of the ancient Greek and Roman City of Paphos and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. In this area, an agora, an asklipieion, a basilica, a Hellenistic-Roman Theatre and many Roman villas with well-preserved mosaic floors were discovered like the House of Dionysos, the House of Aion, the House of Thesus and the House of Orpheus. 

    Although only a small part of the villa has been excavated by the Polish Archaeological Mission of the University of Warsaw, the mosaic floor is considered as one of the most exceptional works of ancient Roman art. The central panel of the room is divided into five smaller panels, each depiciting a different mythological scene, such as Leda and the Swan, the Epiphany of Dionysos, the Beauty Contest between Cassiopeia and the Nereids, the Punishment of Marsyas. In the centre of the composition is the depiction of the god Aion.

  Nearby the Archaeological Park is the Paphos Castle, which was originally built by the Byzantines for protecting the harbour. The Ottomans rebuilt it, after the Venetians dismantled the fort in 1570 and it has been used as a fortress, prison and also a warehouse for salt during the British occupation. On the way to the Tombs of the Kings, we passed the Church of Agia Solomoni, which was originally a catacomb, so that we had to go downstairs to see the church, the remains of the old 12th century frecoes and the Holy Water. Above the church, there is a large, centuries old, terebinth tree. Hanging a personal offer, usually a handkerchief, is believed to cure the ailments of those who hang it.

  Finally, we arrived at the Tombs of the Kings, one of the most important archaeological sites of Cyprus date back to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, that has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 1980 as well as the Archaeological Park. The underground tombs were carved out of the rocks and some of them imitate the houses of living with the burial chambers opening onto a peristyle atrium.

   In the evening, we went to the Mandra Tavern for having a typical meze as dinner. The meze started with a Greek salad and bread with different kinds of dips. Then, there was a plate with Cyprian sausages, halloumi cheese, mushrooms and lountza. The last two plates were filled with lamb and pork meat, falafel, corn, vine leaves filled with minced meat, meat skewers and baked potatoes. It was a perfect finish for a wonderful holiday!