Cyprus

This is the birthplace of the beautiful Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love, sex and passion, Cyprus is an island of legends. A storied past 10,000 years long has seen civilizations come and go and the likes of Alexander the Great to Cleopatra stake their claim here.

Today Cyprus is a modern country. You will discover a compact world of tempting beaches and mountain peaks, citrus groves and old stone villages with olive trees and ancient ruins that stir the imagination.

Understand the Geography

The third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia), Cyprus is geographically situated in the eastern Mediterranean and just south of the Anatolian peninsula (or Asia Minor) of the Asian mainland; thus, it is commonly included in the Middle East. Turkey is 75 kilometres (47 miles) north; other neighbouring countries include Syria and Lebanon to the east, Israel to the southeast, Egypt to the south, and Greece to the west-north-west.

Politically and culturally, however, it is closely aligned with Europe – particularly Greece and Turkey. Historically, Cyprus has been at the crossroads between Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, with lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, and British influences. Thus, it is generally considered a transcontinental island.

The central plain (Mesaoria) with the Kyrenia and Pentadactylos mountains to the north and the Troodos mountain range to the south and west. There are also scattered, but significant, plains along the southern coast.

Cyprus is divides into six different districts

• Famagusta
• Kyrenia
• Larnaca
• Limassol
• Nicosia
• Paphos

Climate Conditions

The climate is temperate and Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool, variably rainy winters. There is sufficient snow for a seasonal ski facility in the Troodos mountains.

Things to See and Do

• Ayia Napa - in the far east of the Republic, considered by many to be the party capital of Cyprus
• Cyprus Museum - showcases the best of Cypriot archaeology from the 9th millennium BCE to the end of Antiquity.
• Byzantine Museum (Archbishop Kyprianou Square), easily spotted thanks to the giant statue of Archbishop Makarios standing outside, has one of the world's best collections of Orthodox icons.
• The National Struggle Museum - Documents the history of the Cypriot independence movement (1955-1959), with a rather positive spin on the EOKA guerrilla movement.
• House of the Dragoman Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios - Is a beautifully restored 18th-century building now housing an ethnological museum.
• Famagusta Gate (Leoforos Athinon) is the only one of Nicosia's three old gates within the southern sector, and it has now been turned into the Lefkosia Municipal Cultural Centre.
• For divers the main reason to come to Larnaca is the wreck of the Zenobia, a ro-ro ferry that sunk in 1980. Fully laded with trucks and their cargo, the ship now lies on its side at a depth of 42 meters, with the top of the wreck at 18m and thus easily accessible even to PADI Advanced Open Water divers.