The edifice begins with a monumental entrance above which a magnificent traceried window is placed. The two towers which flanked the entrance porch were never completed and the bell towers served as the foundation of the minarets added by the Turks after 1571. Two rows of six massive columns separate the nave from the aisles. Their capitals are from the Byzantine era. The four granite columns of the apse carry early Byzantine or Gothic capitals and are thought to have been brought from Salamis. Along either side of the aisles galleries are raised.
The apsidal chapel in the north side was consecrated to St Nicholas. In the southern chapel which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary a mihrap by which the Moslems find the direction of Mecca stands. The chapel next to this was dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas.
This 17th century building was used as the Tekke, or monastery, of the Whirling Dervishes, an order founded by the mystic poet Jelal-ed-din Roumi Mevlana in the 13th century, until 1920, when Atatiirk banned the monastic orders. After this period the dances of the dervishes were allowed only as a cultural event. In Cyprus the tradition lived on until its last sheikh died in 1954.

The Latin church of St Catherine was built at the end of the 14th century and converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest. Its external architecture features trapezoidal represses alternating with tall and narrow Gothicwindows. The openings of windows are filled with slabs of gypsum perforated with geometric designs.

The monument has three entrances. Access from Ae south is gained by an ornate Gothic portal. It carries a deeply carved hood ending with a finial. The figures of the corbel supporting this have not survived. Above the lintel, there are the reliefs of The three Lusignan shields. The arch and lintel are supported by groups of carved capitals on the two sides. The detached middle column of each group is of white marble. The larger western entrance was similar in design. Its finial has not survived. Its lintel is decorated by a frieze of roses and dragons. The door in the north wall leads directly to the cloister. It is simpler than the other two entrances. Nevertheless, its corbels, one showing a naked woman holding two fish by the tail and the other a dragon are interesting.
The interior of the church does not have aisles. Pillars incorporated into the walls support a cross ribbed ceiling. The thrust exerted on the walls is shared by steel ceiling ties. At the end of the nave a polygonal choir and a small sacristy are placed. The double flower, which decorates the keystone of the vaulting, is repeated all along the main body of the building. Above the sacristy there is the treasury with a window opening into the church. On the right is a small basin which must have held baptismal water.

Bedestan, or 'covered market' is a building originally built as a Byzantine church in the 12th century. In the 14th century during the Lusignan rule it was enlarged by the addition of its Gothic elements. The last group of alterations took place during the Venetian rule when it became the Greek Orthodox Metropolis. Its main portal on the north side is elaborately carved like that of St Sophia. During the Ottoman period it was used as a textile market.

Kyrenia Gate
This was one of the main gateways of the city called 'Porta Del Proveditore' after its architect Proveditore Francesco Barbaro. A Latin inscription inside the gate gives its date as 1562. The Arabic inscription above the gate reads: 'O Mohammed, give these tidings to the faithful: victory from God, and triumph is near. O opener of doors, open for us the best of all doors.'
Atatürk Square and the Venetian Column The grey granite column which stands in the middle of the major square of Nicosia is thought to have been brought from the ruins of Salamis by the Venetians. Originally it bore a lion on its top. Its base is decorated with Venetian coats of arms. The Ottoman Turks overturned it after the conquest in 1570. In 1915 the British re-erected it this time with a copper globe at its top.

Buyuk Han, or the Great Inn, was built in 1572 by the first Ottoman governor of Cyprus, Muzaffer Pasha. Its architecture is similar to numerous hans encountered in Anatolia: a courtyard surrounded with rooms arranged on two floors. The lower rooms were used as shops, storage rooms and offices. The rooms on the upper floor served for lodging and each is fitted with a fireplace which has an octagonal chimney. In the middle of the courtyard there is a domed octagonal mosque resting on eight columns with a fountain for ablutions under it.
Kumarcilar Han, or the Gamblers' Inn was built at the end of the 17th century. The arch inside the entrance passage may point to the existence of an earlier building on the site. It has no mosque or ablution fountain.

Turunclu Mosque
This was built in 1825 by the Ottoman governor Seyit Mehmet Aga. It has a wooden roof which rests on four arches. The wooden private gallery for women is in the north-east and stands on wooden columns with decorated capitals.
Iplik Pazar Mosque
The 19th century edifice is named after the old cotton market which once existed here during the Ottoman period. Its knot shaped minaret is thought to belong to a former mosque built on the same ground.
Arap Ahmet Mosque
The mosque which was built in 1845 carries the name of the Turkish governor at the time that it was erected. In the construction of its floor, stone lids from nearby Lusignan graves were used as building material.
This is a 19th century mansion of two storeys which was recently restored and opened to the public as a folklore museum. Dervish Pasha, who once owned the mansion or konak was the publisher of the first Turkish newspaper 'Zaman', or 'Time in Cyprus.

The Latin church of St Catherine was built at the end of the 14th century and converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest. Its external architecture features trapezoidal represses alternating with tall and narrow Gothicwindows. The openings of windows are filled with slabs of gypsum perforated with geometric designs.
The monument has three entrances. Access from Ae south is gained by an ornate Gothic portal. It carries a deeply carved hood ending with a finial. The figures of the corbel supporting this have not survived. Above the lintel, there are the reliefs of The three Lusignan shields. The arch and lintel are supported by groups of carved capitals on the two sides. The detached middle column of each group is of white marble. The larger western entrance was similar in design. Its finial has not survived. Its lintel is decorated by a frieze of roses and dragons. The door in the north wall leads directly to the cloister. It is simpler than the other two entrances. Nevertheless, its corbels, one showing a naked woman holding two fish by the tail and the other a dragon are interesting.

The interior of the church does not have aisles. Pillars incorporated into the walls support a cross ribbed ceiling. The thrust exerted on the walls is shared by steel ceiling ties. At the end of the nave a polygonal choir and a small sacristy are placed. The double flower, which decorates the keystone of the vaulting, is repeated all along the main body of the building.
Above the sacristy there is the treasury with a window opening into the church. On the right is a small basin which must have held baptismal water.



KYRENIA

Although research in the this area has revealed traces of Roman period occupation, the origins of the Kyrenia castle are thought to go back to the 7th century, and it was probably built to defend the town against Arab raids. The first historical reference to it is in 1191 when King Richard the Lionheart of England captured it from the Byzantines on the way to the Third Crusade.
After a short period King Richard sold the island first to the Templars Knights and shortly afterwards to his old friend and ally Guy de Lusignan, the former king of Jerusalem. Thus the Frankish Lusignan rule which was to last for some 300 years (1192-1489) began.

During the long rale of the Lusignans the castle of Kyrenia went through various alterations. However, the fortresses of the time were designed for defence against armoured knights and archers of medieval warfare. When the Venetians captured the island in 1489 they had to redesign the castles against Ottoman cannons. The walls of Kyrenia were rebuilt and strengthened. The towers with corners were replaced by curved bastions to deflect cannon shot.

The small church of St George near the entrance was originally outside the castle, until the Venetian period when it was enveloped by the new walls. It is thought to have been built just before 1100 AD. Its Korinth capitals are thought to have belonged to another edifice.

In 1570 the castle was surrounded by the Ottoman Turks. The Kyrenians, having heard of the bloody fall of Nicosia, surrendered the castle without being able to put to test the strength of its walls, and thus unknowingly enabled the castle to survive to the present day in such good condition.

Access to the castle is gained by a drawbridge. The moat surrounding the walls was full of water until 1400. This moat used to serve as an inner harbour during war.
The arch of the inner gateway is decorated with the coat of arms of the Lusignans which was brought from another building. The coat of arms consists of three lions prancing on their hind legs. Beyond this gate is a turban-capped tomb which belongs to the Ottoman admiral Sadik Pasha who fell during the conquest of Cyprus in 1570.

The shipwreck displayed in the Kyrenia castle is regarded as the most ancient of its kind to have been recovered until now, dating back to the time when the Mediterranean world was ruled by Alexander the Great or his successors. It was noticed in 1965 by a local sponge diver lying in about 3 meters of water less than one and a half kilometers off the coast of Kyrenia and recovered by the University of Pennsylvania. The carbon 14 analysis applied to the almonds found on board has given the date 288 BC, plus or minus 62 years. Its timber was dated to about 389 BC which means that it was built about 80 years before it sank, an old age for the time that it was used.

The ship's hull was about 15 metres and made from Aleppo pine. It was sheathed in lead probably to protect it against Mediterranean sea-worm. Together with its hull a cargo of some 400 amphorae, most of them picked up from the island of Rhodes, including ten with distinctive shapes belonging to Samos, and 29 basalt grain mills from Cos were recovered. The scholars tend to think that it had sailed along the coast of the Mediterranean collecting various goods before crossing to Cyprus. The utensils, four wooden spoons, four oil jugs, four salt dishes and four drinking cups discovered in the ship indicate that its crew was four people during its last voyage. The surprising amount of almonds - altogether some 9,000 pieces - recovered in jars gives the impression that this was the main food of the small crew. The 300 lead net weights left in the bow show that the crew fished as well. Also, the fact that no skeletons were found made the archaeologists tliink that the crew probably swam to shore when the ship sank.
The ship's single sail must have been taken down during the storm which brought its end because more than 100 lead rigging rings from a large square sail were found stored in the stern.

The present day name is the corrupt form of the 'Abbaye de la Paix' or the Abbey of Peace. The building is regarded as a masterpiece of Gothic art, and the most beautiful Gothic building in the Near East.
The first monks who were known to have settled here were Augustinians who had to flee from Jerusalem when the city fell to Saladin in 1187. It is known that the original construction was built between 1198-1205, and a large part of the present day complex was constructed during the rule of French King Hugh III (1267-1284). The cloisters and the refectory were built during the reign of Hugh IV (1324-1359). Following the Ottoman conquest the monks were turned out and the building was given to the Greek Orthodox Church.
The monastery begins with a gate, whose tower is a later addition, and a forecourt. The church which is situated on one side of the courtyard is the best preserved part of the monument and dates from the 13th century. The murals which have survived above its facade are thought to be from the 15th century.
The forecourt leads to cloisters of 18 arches. Under one of the northern arches there are two Roman sarcophagi which once served as lavabo. The door behind the sarcophagus leads to the refectory of the monks. The marble lintel above the door contains the set of coats of arms of the royal quarterings of Cyprus, Jerusalem and the Lusignans. This is an exquisite sample of Gothic architecture and the finest room in the monastery. The room contains a pulpit for addressing the monks during their meals. Six windows in the north wall which illuminate the room are reinforced by a rose window in the eastern wall. A door in the western wall leads to the kitchen and cellar built under the refectory. The rooms between the refectory and kitchen are thought to have once served as lavatories.
The east side of the inner courtyard was occupied by the chapter house and work rooms (undercroft). The first of these functioned as the administration office of the abbey and retains its interesting
Gothic stone carving: a man with a double ladder on his back, another man represented between two sirens, a woman reading, two beasts attacking a man, a woman with a rosary, a monkey and a cat in the foliage of a pear tree under which a man holding a shield is seen, and a monk wearing a cloak. The column standing at its centre is thought to have come from an early Byzantine church. The rooms of the monks occupied the second floor above this section.
A pair of stairs on the south of the inner courtyard lead to the treasury room in the north-west corner of the monastery.

The castle is named after St Hilarion, a hermit monk who fled from persecution in the Holy Land and lived and died in a cave on the mountain. Later in the 10th century the Byzantines built a church and monastery here.
Along with Kantara and Buffavento, St Hilarion Castle was originally built as a watch tower to give warning of approaching Arab pirates who launched a continuous series of raids on Cyprus and the coasts of Anatolia from the 7th to the 10th centuries. Some 400 years after it was first built, the castle became a place of refuge and also a summer residence for the Lusignans. When the Venetians captured Cyprus in 1489, they relied on Kyrenia, Nicosia and Famagusta for the defence of the island and St Hilarion was neglected and fell into oblivion.
The apse of the church of St Hilarion
The castle consisted of three wards on different altitudes, each with its cisterns and storage rooms. The first and lowest of these was used to accommodate the garrison and horses. It began with a barbican and its main gate and other walls, which are reinforced by horseshoe-shaped towers, were built originally by the Byzantines in the 1 lth century. The ruins of the stables where the animals were kept and the water cisterns - an invaluable water source during the long medieval sieges -have survived to the present day.
The entrance of the main gateway of the middle castle, which consisted of a church, Belvedere, barrack rooms and a four-storey royal apartment, was closed with a drawbridge. From the church of St Hilarion its apse has survived. The refectory which served as the dining hall for the Lusignan nobles is the largest room of the surviving ruins. When the weather is clear enough, Kyrenia range and the Mediterranean and even the snow-capped Taurus mountains of Anatolia some 100 km north are visible. Beyond the royal apartments there is a large water tank to collect the winter rain.
After a steep and windy climb access to the upper castle is gained by a Lusignan archway guarded by a tower. The courtyard of the upper castle rests under the natural protection of the twin summits, some 730 m above the sea. These two peaks have given the mountain its first name Didymos (Greek for 'twin'), and from which the Crusaders derived the corrupted name of Dieu d'Amour. Two cisterns sunk into the rocky courtyard supplied water to the upper castle. The rooms on the east side served as kitchens and waiting rooms. The royal apartments occupied the western side of the courtyard. From the gallery, which was originally on a basement, two Gothic tracery windows, one with two stone window seats on either side, and thus known as the 'Queen's Window', have survived. The window offers a beautiful view of the village of Karmi.
A set of rough steps leads to the uppermost section of the castle known as the Tower of Prince John. Tradition has it that Prince John of Antioch, the brother of King Peter I of Cyprus, in 1373 having been convinced that they were plotting against him threw his Bulgarian bodyguards to their death.
Sourp Magar Monastery
The Armenian monastery of Sourp Magar, or the Virgin Mary, was first established in about 1000 AD as a Coptic monastery, and was dedicated to the Egyptian hermit St Makarios of Alexandria (309-404 AD) whose Coptic (Egyptian Christian) monastery still exists in Egypt. Its location being at the edge of the cliff and the beginning of a deep ravine is very picturesque. It was also used as a summer resort by the Armenian community in Nicosia. It passed to the Armenian Church in the early 15th century and became a favourite pilgrimage spot for Armenians on their way to and from the Holy Land until 1974. The present day ruins date from the 19th century. Outside a wall on the eastern side a pillar with an inscription in the Armenian language dated 1933 stands. Antiphonitis Church
The Antiphonitis church was the centre of a monastery. It dates from the end of the 12th century and was built by a monk from Asia Minor. The dome of the edifice rests on eight stone columns which form an octogon. The two columns in the east are detached from the walls and mark the division of the altar. This architecture is very unusual for Cyprus. Its barrel vaulted narthex and arcade, which was once roofed, were added in the 15th century. The stone balustrade between the arches and wood and clay rood of its arcade have not survived.
The name Antiphonitis when loosely translated means 'Christ who Responds'. Some of its surviving frescoes are original. Among these, the Virgin Blachernitissa - with the figure of the bust of Christ Child in her bosom - flanked by Gabriel and Michael, occupies the conch of the apse. Archangel Michael is encountered once more holding a parchment script on the upper part of the detached north column. On the opposite column Gabriel is shown. On the south-west wall of the nave the blue hooded figure of St Anthony and the scene of the Baptism can be distinguished. On the lower half of the column on this side St Endoxus and to the left St Paul are placed.
The rest of the frescoes are from the 15th century. The dome is occupied by the figure of the Christ Pantokrator represented inside a medallion surrounded by angels in the scene of the Preparation of the Throne, which is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The twelve apostles seated on their thrones and the images of prophets represented beyond accompany the scene.
Folk Art Museum
This small museum which was originally a typical 18th century Cypriot house is situated in the harbour. On its ground floor an olive press and a threshing board and other items related to agricultural life are displayed. Its second floor houses bridal costumes, carved wooden chests and various needlework items.
Archangelos Church (Icon Museum)
The high bell-tower of this Greek Orthodox church dedicated to Archangel Michael is the most obvious landmark of the town. The church was built in 1860 and its bell tower was added about 25 year later. At present it serves as a museum where icons gathered from the churches of the Kyrenia area are displayed.
Buffavento castle was built, along with St Hilarion and Kantara, as a part of the defensive chain against the Arab raids. It is the highest of the three castles, its summit being some 950 m above sea level. Like the other two it guarded an important pass through the mountains and it had signal connections with the other two strongholds. When Richard the Lionheart conquered Cyprus in 1191, the Byzantine despot king of the island Isaac Comnenus is said to have fled here.
Like the other castles of the island it is associated with a mysterious queen, who once ruled Cyprus, a story probably connected with the goddess Aphrodite. One of the popular stories about the castle is that during the reign of the Knights Templars a Byzantine princess suffering from leprosy was confined together with her dog which had the same disease. After a while the princess noticed that the skin of her dog had begun to heal. Following him she saw that the animal bathed in a spring far below the castle. Doing the same, she was cured. In gratitude, at the spot near the water source she founded the Monastery of Ayios Ioannis Chrysostomos.
During the Lusignan rule it was used as a prison and called 'Chateau du Lion'. In its later history, the Venetians having relied on the coastal fortresses such as Kyrenia or Famagusta for the defence of the island, Buffavento fell into oblivion.
The name of the castle means 'Defier of Winds'. However, some people think that 'buffeted' or 'blown' by the wind is a more appropriate explanation for its name. It is made of two sections. Its lower section begins with an arched gateway. The group of rooms beyond this entrance must have served as barracks and store rooms. Under the rooms a cistern is located. The door and the arches of some rooms in the upper castle show Byzantine style red brickwork. In the upper castle the remains of a chapel can be distinguished. This part offers a staggering view of Nicosia and the Troodos chain in the south.
Ayios Epiktitos Vrysi is a Neolithic settlement on a small headland on the coast looking as if it is about to slip down into the sea, which actually happened to part of it. It is thought to have been occupied from between 4000 and 3000 BC, and according to the impression that the pottery and obsidian finds have given, by people from Cilicia, in Anatolia.
Artefacts such as stone axes, grinders, and bone needles as well as remains of wheat, barley, lentils, grapes and olives show that the inhabitants of Vrysi were farmers rather than fishermen. Pigs, sheep, goats, dogs and cats are among the animals whose bones have been identified. Their handmade painted pottery is decorated with bold designs in dark red or brown on a white surface.
Some of the dwellings were irregular in plan owing to the uneven surface of the rock promontary; some were rectangular with softened corners. They were partly underground (especially those dug by the first settlers) with walls built inside hollows cut out of the rock and connected by narrow passages. The houses were separated from each other by narrow streets. The stone walls were plastered with clay on their inner surface. The first dwellings were very weak. Later they became stronger. The floors were mud or clay covered with woven mats of plant fibre. Each room had a raised hearth and platforms. The roofs were of reed. At the beginning the settlement was fortified by a V-shaped ditch separating it from the mainland. Excavations however, have shown that soon after it was dug the ditch became unnecessary, and new houses were built beyond it for the growing population.

Archaeologists believe that after an earthquake around 3000 BC the people of the settlement moved somewhere else.
Tradition has it that Lambousa was founded as early as the 13th century BC by a group of Laconians from south Greece. In the 8th century it must have been an active trading post of the Phoenicians. During Roman and Byzantine rule it became an important administrative city with a gymnasium, a theatre, other public buildings and dockyards, being a natural port for trade with Cilicia. Its Byzantine name meant the 'Shining'. It was destroyed in the 7th century during Arab raids.
The town wall, the breakwater, the rock-graves which have been the popular hunts of treasure seekers, and served as stone quarries, and the fish tanks are among the ruins of the Roman period which have survived to the present day. The archaeological excavations at Lambousa have been recovered since 1992.
The fish tanks or fishbreeding tanks are known as the earliest examples of their kind (while some sources assign them to the early Byzantine period, some claim that they were in origin a bathing establishment, part of a Roman villa). They are cut into the rock near the harbour. They are designed in such a way that while the cool and fresh water entered into them with the tides, the warmer water went out through another channel.
In 627 AD, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641), fought the Persian general Raztis in single combat and beheaded him. Afterwards, having compared his victory with that of David against Goliath he issued some commemorative silver which is today known as the David plates. They were found in about 1900 in two stages in the vicinity of Lambousa and eventually having been split up into four, ended up in the museums of Nicosia, New York, Washington and London. Obviously they were buried in haste just before the Arab pirates arrived. These silver vessels, of which the largest depicted David against the giant Goliath, are regarded as among the finest examples of the art of the early Byzantine era. Since most of them bore imperial control stamps, they were closely dated as being from the years 627-630 AD.
Karmi (Karaman)
Karmi is one of the most picturesque villages of North Cyprus. It is inhabited mostly by British and German expatriates.
Necropolis of Karmi
The necropolis of the village is thought to date from the Middle Bronze Age (c 1900-1625 BC). Here a number of rich chamber tombs have been excavated. On the wall of an access passage of a tomb the crude relief of a human figure has survived. This is the earliest relief of a human figure discovered on the island so far. In one of the tombs a Minoan 'Kamares' cup and blue faience beads from Egypt which suggest very early trading relations with Crete and Egypt were discovered. It is called 'the tomb of the seafarer' because it was believed 'that the man probably walked down to the sea at Lapithos and took service with one of the vessels trading between the Syrian ports and the Aegean and that these objects are momentoes of his travels'
The Latin church of St Catherine was built at the end of the 14th century and converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest. Its external architecture features trapezoidal represses alternating with tall and narrow Gothicwindows. The openings of windows are filled with slabs of gypsum perforated with geometric designs.
The monument has three entrances. Access from Ae south is gained by an ornate Gothic portal. It carries a deeply carved hood ending with a finial. The figures of the corbel supporting this have not survived. Above the lintel, there are the reliefs of The three Lusignan shields. The arch and lintel are supported by groups of carved capitals on the two sides. The detached middle column of each group is of white marble. The larger western entrance was similar in design. Its finial has not survived. Its lintel is decorated by a frieze of roses and dragons. The door in the north wall leads directly to the cloister. It is simpler than the other two entrances. Nevertheless, its corbels, one showing a naked woman holding two fish by the tail and the other a dragon are interesting.
The interior of the church does not have aisles. Pillars incorporated into the walls support a cross ribbed ceiling. The thrust exerted on the walls is shared by steel ceiling ties. At the end of the nave a polygonal choir and a small sacristy are placed. The double flower, which decorates the keystone of the vaulting, is repeated all along the main body of the building. Above the sacristy there is the treasury with a window opening into the church. On the right is a small basin which must have held baptismal water.


FAMAGUSTA

Church of St Francis
The ruins lying next to those of the Palazzo del Proveditore belong to the church of St Francis. It was once part of a large monastery originally founded in about 1300 by monks of the Franciscan order. It consisted of a single nave with three bays and a polygonal choir at its eastern end. It is known that King Henry II (1285-1324) of Cyprus, being a supporter of the order, sponsored the construction.
Church of St George of the Greeks
The church of the Orthodox community in Famagusta was built in the 15th century and it combined both Gothic and Byzantine architectural elements. Originally it consisted of a nave and aisles ending with a triple apse. Its Byzantine style apse is high and reached the level of the Gothic vaulting in the nave. The steps in its middle apse, a characteristic of early Christian basilicas, indicate that it was a church of a bishop. In its eastern apse traces of some frescoes have survived.
The roof of the building collapsed during the Ottoman siege in 1571. The wall facing the side of the bombardment retains marks of the cannon balls.
Church of St Peter and St Paul
This edifice - according to the panel on its wall - was built by the wealthy Syrian merchant Simone Nostrano in 1360, from the profits of one of his single business ventures. However, this information is mistaken, because it is known that the church was built by a Nestorian Christian named Simon.
Its cross ribbed vaulting is supported on round columns with flat capitals. Its interior is simple and decoration is limited to the vaulting bosses which are carved with a rosette of leaves. Its main portal to the north entrance reveals exquisite workmanship and is thought to have been brought from another building.
Its sturdy construction saved it during the Ottoman bombardment in 1571 and it has survived to the present day in very good condition.
Nestorian Church (St George the Exiler)
The church was built in 1339 by a wealthy merchant. Originally it consisted of a nave and an apse. The aisles and the attractive bell tower are later additions. Above its simple entrance portal it has a beautiful rose window. Its vaulting is not ribbed and is supported by ornamented corbels. For the keystones darker-coloured stones are used. In the apse some murals accompanied b\ inscriptions in Syriac, which was the liturgic language of the Nestorians, have survived.
Church of St George of the Latins
This church is thought to have been built at the end of the 13th century during the reign of the French king Louis the Saint (1226-1270), probably with material from the ruins of a Roman temple in Salamis, and is modelled after the church of St Chapelle in Paris. It had a single nave, five bays, and a polygonal choir at its north end. Only its north wall and choir have survived to the present day. Its large and slender windows once contained Gothic tracery. The attached columns of the Gothic style are carved from the classic pillars of Salamis. Their outworn capitals were decorated with deeply carved foliage motifs and winged dragons.
Twin Churches
The crusader knights of the Temple and Hospital orders had their own churches in Cyprus. The larger of the surviving buildings belonged to the Templars and was built at the beginning of the 14th century. It was dedicated to St Anthony. When their order was dissolved by the Pope in 1313 the church was taken over by the Hospitallers who also owned the tower-like chapel beside the building.
Palazzo del Proveditore
The royal palace of the Venetians, which was originally built during the Lusignan period in the tracery window catches one's attention. In its courtyard in addition to a Koran school there is a 16th century Venetian loggia (an open-sided arcade), which is used in the present day as the ablution area. Above the two round windows which flank its doorway the Venetian coats of arms have survived. The marble frieze decorated with frolicking animals and garlands is thought to have come from a Roman temple in Salamis.
Inside two rows of massive columns separate the nave from the aisles and support a vaulted ceiling. In the west there are two side chapels and a triple apsed choir. The rosette and lancet windows in the apse are also well preserved.
Excavations have shown that the history of Salamis goes back to the 11th century BC. Archaeologists tend to believe that the first inhatitants of the town came here from Enkomi after the earthquake of 1075 BC. Traces of a necropolis and a harbour of this early period have been located.
When the 'Dark Ages' of the Mediterranean world came to an end in about the 8th century BC, Salamis appeared on the historical scene as an important trading centre. The necropolis which yielded the Royal Tombs belongs to this period and gives an idea about the richness of the city during the era.
The first coins were minted in the 6th century BC. Also, in the inscriptions dating from this period the name of Salamis is encountered for the first time. In this century, together with Syria and Anatolia, the island went under the rule of the Achamenid Persian Empire which lasted until the march of Alexander the Great into Asia Minor.
Following the unexpected death of Alexander the Great near Babylon in 323 BC, his generals divided the lands of the Hellenistic Empire and Cyprus fell to the share of Ptolemy who established his kingdom in Egypt. During the Hellenistic and the Roman era Salamis, together with Alexandria, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Ephesus, Pergamum and Athens, received its share of the wealth of the period and once again became an important trading centre between the worlds surrounding the Mediterranean. This prosperous period continued into the Roman era. Most of the ruins unearthed in excavations date from this recent history of the city. The development of Salamis was often interrupted by earthquakes, especially in the 1st and 4th centuries AD.
Following the earthquakes, the Byzantine emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD) rebuilt the city and renamed it Constantia. However, by this time the harbour was already silted up and more natural catastrophes and the raids of the Arab pirates brought its end. In 648 after another raid the last inhabitants moved to Arsinoe which was later to become Famagusta.
St Nicholas Cathedral
(Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque)
The cathedral is known as one of the finest Gothic buildings in the Mediterranean world. Its foundation stone is known to have been laid in 1298 during the Lusignan rule and the construction lasted until 1312. The old tropical fig tree (Ficus Sycomorus) which stands by the entrance of the building is thought to have been planted here at the time that the work began. Until it became a mosque in 1571 a king of the island was first crowned as the King of Cyprus in St Sophia in Nicosia and then as the King of Jerusalem in St Nicholas in Famagusta, the city being closer to the Holy Land.
The western fagade of the edifice, which is likened to that of Reims Cathedral in France, is the best preserved and most attractive part of the building. On this side and above its porch a fine 13th century occupied the area opposite St Nicholas. Its triple-arched facade which has survived to the present day is from the beginning of the 16th century. Above its middle arch, the coats of arms of Giovanni Renier, Captain of Cyprus in 1552, can be seen. Its four granite columns came from the ruins of Salamis.
The small building where the famous Turkish nationalist Namik Kemal was imprisoned (1873-1876) is situated behind this arcade.
This citadel was built in the 14th century during the Lusignan period, to protect the harbour. The Sea Gate, on this side, along with the Land Gate were the two major entrances of walled Famagusta. The citadel was originally surrounded with a moat. In 1492 Venetians transformed it into an artillery stronghold making alterations similar to those at Kyrenia castle. The marble panel above the entrance shows the winged lion of Venice, and includes the name of Nicolo Foscarini who remodelled the tower. It is thought that when Leonardo da Vinci visited Cyprus in 1481 he advised the Venetians on the design of the defences of Famagusta.
The tower or citadel consists of towers and corridors leading to artillery chambers. On one side of its large courtyard is the refectory and above it apartments, both dating back to the Lusignan period.
The present day name of the tower came into use during the British colonial period. In his famous tragedy, where the setting is 'a seaport in Cyprus', Shakespeare makes Othello a Moor. He must have heard of the Venetian governor of the island, Christophoro Moro whose surname means 'moor'.
In the courtyard of the citadel there are some Ottoman and Spanish cannons and their iron balls. The stone balls were for catapults.
The surviving walls and bastions of Famagusta are from the Venetian period. On the land side the city was protected by the squat Martinengo Bastion. This was named after the Venetian commander Count Heracles Martinengo.
In the Ravelin, which protected the Land Gate, in addition to artillery chambers a chapel is encountered.
The large round tower, which was originally a Venetian arsenal, on the sea side is named after Dyamboulat, the Turkish commander by whose bravery the bastion was captured.
ENKOMI (Alasia)
Although archaeological excavations have shown that the earliest settlement in the area was made during the beginning of the 2nd millenium BC, Enkomi seems to have appeared on the historical scene during the 18th century BC. Excavations earned out at various sites have shown that metallurgical activity in Enkomi and several other sites in Cyprus increased during the Late Bronze Age (c 1650-1050 BC). This is the period in which the correspondence between the pharaoh and the king of a country referred to as Alasia took place. The letters are baked clay tablets inscribed in the cuneiform script in Akkadian, the international language of the time. They are found in the palace of the pharaoh Akhenaten at Tell el Amarna in Upper Egypt and date from the second quarter of the 14th century BC. In some of these tablets the king of Alasia promises the pharaoh copper for silver and luxury goods.
Similar references to the same country are encountered in other tablets from Egypt, Syria and Anatolia between the 18th century and 12th century BC. When such information is brought together one ends up learning that Alasia supplied copper to Syria and Anatolia, that this country was an island with a king and a fleet, in the 14th century it was an ally of Egypt and an enemy of the Hittites, and it was - together with Greece, the Aegean, Anatolia and Syria - overrun by the so-called 'Sea Peoples' in about 1200 BC. Despite some major blocks against it, some scholars tend to believe that Alasia of ancient sources is either Cyprus as a whole or the city of Enkomi by itself.
Excavations in Enkomi have brought to light several distinct sections of the city where metallurgy was practiced. In some of these not only finished bronze objects for sale but other objects which give the impression of large scale metallurgical activity were found. Among these were unworked copper shaped like an oxhide - the form in which copper was transported - fragmentary vessels, the waste left over from the casting process, scrap metal which must have been set aside for smelting, and smith's tools.
The objects discovered in the tombs indicate that in the 13th century BC the Achaeans began to settle in Cyprus and Enkomi, and gave the island's economy new vigour.
Most of the ruins surviving to the present day belong to the city which was rebuilt after the destruction of 1200 BC. This new city had straight streets which cut each other at right angles. The public buildings and sanctuaries were constructed from ashlar blocks and occupied the rectangles left among the streets. The central town square was paved with stone slabs. The city was surrounded by massive walls.
After the devastation of the 'Sea Peoples' (c 1200 BC) the city never completely recovered. Although new arrivals from the Aegean and the Mediterranean followed, Enkomi never recovered its ancient splendour. By then its inland harbour beside the city on the Pedheios river (Kanlidere) was already silted and its end was brought about by an earthquake in 1075 BC. Its last inhabitants are thought to have moved to the sea side and founded Salamis.
AYIOS BARNABAS MONASTERY
St Barnabas, who was a Cypriot Jew from Sal amis, is known as the founder of the apostolic church of Cyprus in 45 AD when he arrived in the island accompanied by St Paul and St Mark during their first missionary journey. He is said to have been stoned in Salamis when he returned a second time in 52 AD.
Tradition has it that the location of his tomb was revealed to the archbishop of Cyprus in 477 AD in a dream and St Barnabas was found in his tomb with a copy of the gospel of St Matthew on his breast, put there by St Mark.
The present day building of the church dates from the 18th century and was built on the ruins of its forerunner dating from the 10th century. The capitals incorporated into the wall and a green marble column from which a liquid good for eye sicknesses is supposed to ooze are from the earlier church.

Icon and Archaeological Museum
The church of St Barnabas is exactly as it was when its last three monks left it in 1976. The church apparatus; pulpits, wooden lectern, and pews are still in place. It houses a rich collection of painted and gilt icons mostly dating from the 18th century.
The carved blocks and capital blocks in the garden and cloister courtyard come from Salamis. The black basalt grinding mill comes from Enkomi. The cloisters of the monastery have recently been restored and at present serve as the archaeological museum. This section houses an exquisite collection of ancient pottery displayed chronologically, representing the changes in morphology and decoration of pottery in Cyprus from the Neolithic to the Roman times. The rest of the collection covers bronze and marble art objects.


SALAMIS

The object of this book is to introduce the visitor the rich, colourful cultural heritage of North Cyprus. The book includes pictures and information about 80 ancient centres of interest, and 12 plans.
The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus covers about one-third of Cyprus, some 3,400 sq km. Its population is about 220,000 people. A large part of this land is covered with citrus and olive groves, pine forests and cypresses. It is one of the few unspoilt corners in the Mediterranean world. Its climate and endless beaches have made it an important tourist destination despite the transportation difficulties resulting from its politically isolated situation. The food in North Cyprus is good and inexpensive. Its people are friendly. The pace of life is relaxed, that is Mediterranean in the true sense of the word. Violent crime is almost unknown. Street sellers chasing after foreigners do not exist.
Its first inhabitants are thought to have come from Asia Minor or the Syria-Palestine region in about 7000-6500 BC during the period when these lands were enjoying a flourishing Neolithic culture. When the weather is clear enough the coast of North Cyprus is visible from these regions, and sea-crossing in small rafts is thought to have been possible. Its rich copper deposits, which were utilized from the Bronze Age onwards, gave the island its name.
In addition to copper, its ship-building timber, vines, oil and grain and its geographical position attracted the powerful kingdoms surrounding it and each occupant imprinted and left something of himself on the island, creating a rich and colourful mosaic of cultures. Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians and Persians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans were among these.
This large complex began with a court (1) surrounded with columned arcades on its four sides. It served as an exercising ground. During the reign of Augustus (31 BC - 14 AD) a stone basin with the statue of the emperor occupied its centre. Some of its columns, capitals and bases originally belonged to the theatre and were brought here after the earthquakes of the 4th century.
In one corner there were latrines (3) for 44 people. Another set of latrines (11) existed on the north side of the baths. Two swimming pools (5) occupied the two ends of the eastern colonnade (4). These were decorated with marble statues.
The first part of the baths consisted of two octagonal cold rooms (6), between which was the central sweating room (7). On the south wall of the latter a fresco piece surviving from the 3rd century AD shows Hylas - the boy friend of Heracles who gets lost in Mysia on the way to Colchis to bring the Golden Fleece - as he refuses the water nymphs. The hot water baths (8) were flanked by two more sweat rooms (9). In the southern one there are mosaic fragments; one originally represented Leto's children Apollo and Artemis killing Niobe's children with arrows. The latter who has fourteen children belittles Leto for having only two. The second mosaic shows Leda, the future mother of Helen, and Zeus, disguised as a swan with the river god Eurotas. Two more mosaic fragments which do not feature figures have survived in the north wall of the hot room and in the northern sweat room. The stoking room (10) was situated to the north of the complex.
Theatre
The present day ruins of the theatre date from the time of Augustus. Its auditorium originally consisted of 50 rows of seats and held over 15,000 spectators. Its orchestra bore an altar dedicated to Dionysus and two bases dedicated to Marcus Aurelius Commodus, and Caesar Constantius and Caesar Maximianus. The performances took place on the raised stage whose background was decorated with statues.
After it was destroyed by earthquakes in the 4th century the theatre was never rebuilt and served as a source of building material for other constructions.
Roman Villa
This two-storey villa was made of an apsidal reception hall and a central inner courtyard with a columned portico. The living quarters were grouped in the inner courtyard. After the city was abandoned this building was used as an oil mill. The large stone which was used to crush olives (in the reception hall), mill stones and the straining device have survived.
Kampanopetra Basilica
This basilica was built in the 4th century and consisted of a courtyard surrounded with columns which contained a well for ablution, and a nave with aisles. It ended with a triple apse. The throne of the bishop and the seats of the clergy were situated in the central apse. At the back of the apse there was another group of buildings with a courtyard. These seem to have included bathing facilities, and a sweating room. One of the rooms has revealed a beautiful opus sectile mosaic floor.
Ayios Epiphanios Basilica
This was the largest basilica in Cyprus and was built as the metropolitan church of Salamis during the office of Bishop Epiphanios (368-403 AD) whose tomb still lies encased in marble in front of the southern apse.
The edifice consisted of a nave separated from its aisles by two rows of 14 columns with Corinthian capitals. It ended with a triple-arched semi-circular apse where there were seats for the bishop and clergy. The rooms on each side of the apse were used for dressing and storing liturgical apparatus. Hypocaust remains in thebaptistry show that theinitiates received their baptism in winter months with warm water.
The church was destroyed in the 7th century during the Arab raids. The ruins at the back of the southern apse belong to a smaller church built after the original one was destroyed.
Water Reservoir 'Vouta'
A system of earthen pipes and conduits on a 50 kilometre aqueduct brought water to the city from Kythrea. This Roman period water system continued to function till the 7th century. The walls and the remains of 36 square pillars of the largest of the cisterns ,where this water was collected have survived. In addition to the pillars its ceiling was supported by massive corbels projecting from its longer walls. Excavations at floor level have brought to light an exit conduit.

Agora (Stone Forum)
This was the meeting place and market of Salamis. Its origins go back to the Hellenistic period. On two sides it was lined with columned arcades which protected the shoppers from heat in summer and rain in winter. Only one of the columns has survived to the present day. Its courtyard contained temples dedicated to gods related to commerce and was decorated with statues and fountains.

Temple of Zeus
The present day ruins belong to the Roman period temple which was built on an earlier Hellenistic one. The shrine had the right to grant asylum and this fact was confirmed by Augustus in 22 BC. During excavations inscriptions in honour of Livia, Augustus' consort, and the Olympian Zeus were discovered.
ROYAL TOMBS
Excavations in the necropolis of Salamis brought to light a number of royal tombs. In general their architecture was similar and consisted of a trapezoidal court i dromos) where the bloody sacrifices must have taken place, an entrance porch and a long burial chamber built from hewn limestone blocks. Though they were built in the 8th century BC some of them were used as late as the 4th century AD.
Along with the rich grave finds which included pottery, bronze and ivory objects, horse skeletons complete with their harnesses were discovered. The sacrifices and the architecture of the tombs bring to mind the Mycenaean burial customs referred to in the Iliad.

Cellarka
Cellarka is a complex of tombs carved into the living rock of the ground. The overall impression is of a hive of giant cells. The entrance of each tomb contains steps which sometimes lead to a pair of rooms. Originally their entrances were sealed with heavy stone slabs. In some of them a low base on which the body was placed was discovered.
One of the tombs has revealed five portrait busts of the dead, their personal belongings, but no bodies. The cemetery is thought to have been in use from the 7th to the 4th century BC. In the traces of pyres which were lit close by or in the entrance passages of the tombs, a number of offerings including vases smashed after a libation had been offered and remains of fruits which inferred banquets and sacrificial animal bones were discovered.

The research has revealed more than hundred grave chambers. After the chambers were filled vertical wells had been dug for more burials. The cemetery is thought to have belonged to common town people.

MORPHOU


Guzelyurt Museum houses a rich collection of objects which show the ancient archaeological history of the island from prehistory to Roman times.
In the first room artefacts from various prehistoric sites of the island and pottery of the Bronze Age are displayed. Red on White Ware and Red Polished Ware of the Early Bronze Age (c 2300-1900 BC), Red on White Ware of the Middle Bronze Age (c 1900-1650 BC) and Red Lustruous Ware of the Late Bronze Age (c 1650-1050) are the major groups. The following three rooms contain the findings from the nearby Bronze Age settlement of Toumba tou Skourou. The fifth room is reserved for objects of art from Classical, Hellenistic and Roman times.
The town is thought to have been founded around 1600 BC on an artificial mound. Its name means the 'Mound of Darkness'.
A piece of copper slag discovered has led some archaeologists to think that Toumba tou Skourou was probably one of the towns on the island where copper was worked and exported in the Bronze Age. The rich grave finds confirm the prosperity of the settlement.
The houses were built of mudbrick on stone foundations. Its handmade pottery is exceptionally good and includes White Slip Ware and Base Ring Ware. The first group is decorated with geometric motifs in orange or dark brown colour on white ground. The Base Ring Ware is mostly little jugs with tall necks bringing to mind the shape of the inverted opium poppy-head.
The origins of Soli are traced back to an Assyrian (c 700 BC) tribute list where it is referred to as Si-il-lu. It is also known that in 580 BC, King Philokypros moved his capital from Aepia to Si-il-lu on the advice of his mentor Solon, and renamed the town after the Athenian philosopher.
In 498 BC along with most of the other city kingdoms of Cyprus, Soli also rose against its Persian masters and at the end of the war it was captured.
Soli became a prosperous city during the Roman period. However by the 4th century its harbour was already silted up and the copper mines were closed. It was destroyed by Arab raids in the 7th century.
On the acropolis, which occupied the top of the hill high above the theatre, there was a royal palace similar to the one of Vouni, thought to date from a slightly later period. In addition to silver and gold jewellery of the Hellenistic period, excavations have brought to light a marble statue of Aphrodite from the 1st century BC and a frieze representing the war of the Amazons from the 2nd century BC (Cyprus Museum - Greek sector). The so-called Fugger sarcophagus in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna is also thought to have come from the necropolis of Soli.
Excavations have also brought to light some Hellenistic ruins such as the remains of a colonnaded paved street which leads to an agora with a marble monumental fountain.
Excavations have shown that a settlement was made here as early as the 11th century BC owing probably to the existence of a good water supply, fertile soil and a protected harbour, the nearby copper deposits and timber to smelt the copper.
Soli is known as the traditional place where St Mark received baptism and St Auxibius, a Roman who fled the city in the 1st century, was its first bishop. Its basilica was one of the earliest of its kind in Cyprus featuring its own individual characteristics.
The first church of Soli is thought to have been built in the second half of the 4th century. This was a three aisled building of approximately 200 m length. It began with a triple portal which led into a vestibule which was followed by a colonnaded atrium with a fountain. A second triple portal led into the narthex. Inside, twelve pairs of giant columns whose bases have survived separated the nave from the aisles. In the east the church ended with a triple apse. The tiers of the central apse were for the bishops and clergy. The floor of this first church was entirely laid with tesserae and opus sectile mosaics. A large part of these have survived to the present day. As is the case with the other churches of Cyprus, originally the mosaics were of geometric design. Gradually, animals and later opus sectile decoration - pavements made from small coloured stone tiles - were included in the repertoire. A goose-like swan surrounded with florals and four small dolphins in the floor of the nave catch one's attention. The Greek inscription in mosaic set in the apse reads O Christ save those who gave this mosaic.
During the 5th and 6th centuries the building was enlarged. However, in the 7th century, it was razed to the ground. The church which was built on the ruins of the original one in the 12th century was smaller in size and occupied the eastern section.
The Roman theatre of Soli occupies the site of the original Greek theatre on the northern slope of a hill overlooking the sea below. The present theatre dates from the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century AD. It has a capacity of some 4,000 spectators. Its stage building was of two storeys, covered with marble panelling and decorated with statues. Its semi-circular auditorium where the spectators sat was partly cut into the rock, and access to it as well as to the orchestra was gained through two side entrances. A low wall of limestone slabs separated the orchestra from the auditorium. The last surviving seats were earned to Port Said in the 19th century and used to rebuild the quaysides. At present this section is restored halfway. From the stage building only the platform on which it was built has survived. At the west of the theatre on a nearby hill traces of the temples dedicated to Isis and Aphrodite have been discovered. The famous torso of the Aphrodite of Soli in the (Cyprus Museum - Greek sector) was found here.
This 137 room palace was built on a hilltop by the Phoenician pro-Persian king of the neighbouring city of Marion to watch over the pro-Greek city of Soli, following an unsuccessful revolt of the latter against the Persians in 498 BC. It was the headquarters of a garrison and consisted of state apartments, large storerooms and bathrooms. In 449 BC when the Persians were defeated and the Greek rule was established, and the ruler of Marion was replaced by a pro-Greek prince and alterations were made and a second storey with walls made from mud bricks was added. The pro-Persian and pro-Greek histories of this royal residence lasted for some 70 years and after it was destroyed by the inhabitants of Soli in a fire in 380 BC it was never rebuilt.
The entrance of the original palace of the first period was in the south-west. Here a porch led to the state apartments: a main room (1) and inner hall and on the two sides a series of connecting rooms (2 & 3). This section of the palace is thought to have had an official function. From here a broad stairway of seven steps led to a columned court surrounded with rooms on three sides. Water to almost all the main rooms was supplied from the underground cisterns cut into the living rock of the mountain, where the winter rain was collected. The stone stele designed to hold a windlass over the cistern in this central courtyard has an unfinished figure at its centre and is thought to have been brought from somewhere else. Some of the storerooms (6) contain holes in which the amphorae were sunk. In the north-west corner there is a water closet (7) beside another deep
cistern More storerooms (9) stood in the eastern corner. On this side also stood a hot bath (10), one
of the earliest of its kind. When the Persian rule was retraced by that of the Greek, El was closed and a new entrance (E2) was built. The ramp (11), as angled vestibule (12), a stairway and an anteroom (13) opening to the central courtyard were added. New storerooms (14) around a courtyard were also built.
During excavations a clay pot blackened by the
fire which destroyed Vouni, gold and silver
bracelets, silver bowls, and hundreds of coins
bearing stamps of Manion, Rition, Lapithos and
Piphos were discovered.
The small rock island of Petra tou Limniti visible
From the palace has traces of a pre-Neolithic settlement. At the top of the hill on which the place was built and towards the south are the remains of a temple built for Athena in the third quarter of the 5th century BC. This sanctuary consisted of two successive courtyards and a sacred enclosure. Here traces of the holes in which the statues were secured have survived.


LEFKA

Lefke
This town is one of those unspoilt spots in North Cyprus and is established in a fertile pocket. The abundance of water is confirmed by the citrus groves and green plantations. The fruits of Lefke are known as the juiciest in Cyprus. The Mosque of Ottoman admiral Piri Osman Pasha (d 1839) whose courtyard houses many interesting marble :ombs is the main historical attraction in Lefke. The tomb of its founder is a perfect sample of Ottoman stone work and has been serving as an offering spot to invoke the favour of the saint-pasha. It is of marble and has an elaborately carved tall turbaned top. Its centre is blackened by the smoke of the lighted candles. The tomb was dedicated by the wife of the pasha.



ISKELE – KARPAZ

The town is thought to have been founded around 1600 BC on an artificial mound. Its name means the 'Mound of Darkness'.
A piece of copper slag discovered has led some archaeologists to think that Toumba tou Skourou was probably one of the towns on the island where copper was worked and exported in the Bronze Age. The rich grave finds confirm the prosperity of the settlement.
The houses were built of mudbrick on stone foundations. Its handmade pottery is exceptionally good and includes White Slip Ware and Base Ring Ware. The first group is decorated with geometric motifs in orange or dark brown colour on white ground. The Base Ring Ware is mostly little jugs with tall necks bringing to mind the shape of the inverted opium poppy-head.
KANTARA CASTLE
Kantara is one of the most important castles by which the natural defence of the Kyrenia range was reinforced. The word 'Kantara' in Arabic means bridge or arch. Since this castle bridges the range and commands all the area surrounding it, the name is more than appropriate. It is planted on a group of steep cliffs. The origins of the Kantara castle go back to the 10th century when it was built as a lookout post. The first reference to the castle in the records is in 1191 when Richard the Lionheart captured Cyprus and Isaac Comnenos, the rebel Byzantine prince from Trapezus (Trabzon) who had captured the island and proclaiming himself King of Cyprus, after having ruled for seven years as a despot, sheltered in Kantara. In the 12th century it was remodelled by the Lusignans. Throughout the island's history Kantara often served as a shelter for defeated barons and kings. When the Genoese conquered Famagusta and Nicosia in 1373, Kantara remained in the hands of John of Antioch, the brother of King Peter I of Cyprus - till he moved to St Hilarion.
Later his brother, King James I (1382-1398) of Cyprus refortified Kantara. Most of the surviving parts belong to his restorations. It continued to be used as late as 1525 when Venetians having relied on the coastal fortresses such as Kyrenia and Famagusta for the defence of the island neglected it as they had done with the other inland castles of Saint Hilarion and Buffavento.
This impregnable castle begins with a barbican on its eastern side. It is inaccessible from the other three steep directions. The door of the barbican is flanked by a pair of square towers, and opens into a large bailey. A second opening, again protected by two towers, is the entrance into the actual castle.
The tower in the direction of the sea is a two-storey structure of passages and vaulted rooms with shooting slits. On the land side its equivalent has a vaulted basement which was used as prison. This tower is succeeded by a single room and a group of three vaulted rooms with shooting slits and a toilet. These were the rooms where the knights stayed. In the southern section of the walls the remains of a lookout tower and some rooms and cisterns have survived. On the peak of the cliff there are the ruins of the tower from which flares were used to signal Nicosia and Buffavento during the night.
Church of Panagia Theotokos
This Byzantine church was built in the early 12th century as a single aisled, domed church. In the 15th century a second vaulted aisle was added to its north side.
The first building has retained much of its original frescoes executed in the early Comnenian style.Its dome is occupied by the figure of Christ Pantocrator (Omnipotent) surrounded by the Preparation of the Throne where the throne is flanked by the Virgin and John the Baptist and groups of angels. The other surviving frescoes depict the life of the Virgin Mary according to the apocryphal gospels. The eastern vault above the conch of the apse shows the Ascension. The conch of the apse is occupied by a 15th century representation of 'Mary Orans' (a 15th century version of Mary Blachernitissa).
The north aisle contains some 15th century Franco-Byzantine murals.
Panagia Kanakaria
The second church whose remains are incorporated in the present day building is thought to have been built in the late 5th or 6th century as a colonnaded basilica with a narthex, a nave, two aisles, and an apse. After it was destroyed in the Arab raids around 700, it was rebuilt as a buttressed basilica. However following an earthquake in 1160 it was again restored and rebuilt as a multidomed structure. However, the work did not finish till the 14th century.
Its apse and some columns of its narthex and Corinthian capitals belong to the earlier church. Its southern narthex and the small porch on the south side are also later additions.
The original mosaic which decorated its apse represented the Christ Child sitting on the lap of the Virgin Mary attended by two archangels and surrounded by a frieze of apostles. Its part which showed Christ Child, an arch angel, St James and St Matthew was split into four pieces and stolen by art thieves. The mosaic was made in 525-550 AD and one of the only six or seven mosaics which have survived the Byzantine Iconoclastic period (726-843 AD).
The surviving frescoes, such as the fresco of the Virgin Mary in the lunette above the south portal have been restored several times.
Church of Panagia Kyras
The little church of Panagia Kyras is thought to date from the 7th century and incorporates the remains of the apse of an earlier church of the 6th century. In this old apse there is a mosaic of the Virgin Mary whose cubes are thought to be good for minor illnesses such as pimple and spots. The fragmentary murals in the church are from the 13th century.
Nitovikla Fortress
The ruins of Nitovikla fortress have survived on a low hill near the sea. This fortress is thought to have been built at the end of the Middle Bronze Age (c 1900-1650 BC) to protect the area against sea raids. The fortress was a rectangle surrounded by massive walls and its entrance was guarded by towers. At its centre there was a courtyard to which the rooms opened. The flat roofs served as platforms for the soldiers. The structure brings to mind the Hittite fortresses of Anatolia
Church of Ayia Trias (Sipahi)
This church was built in the 6th century. Originally it began with a narthex which opened into a courtyard surrounded with columns. The building had a columned nave with two aisles and a triple-arched apse. In the middle of the nave the remains of a chancel have survived. An inscription in front of the main apse refers to one deacon Heraclios as a benefactor of the edifice. Other donor names included in the mosaics are Aetis, Euthalis and Eutychianos. The ruins of the baptistry of the church retaining some of its marble steps descending into a font in the shape of a crucifix can also be identified. The west side of the building was occupied by the bishop's palace.
The mosaics of the church are thought to be the work of local mosaicists and reflect the taste of the eastern Mediterranean school, represented at its best by the pavements of Antioch-on-the-Orontes.
Church of Ayios Philon
Philon was the name of the bishop who converted the inhabitants of the Carpas area to Christianity in the 4th century. The early 5th century complex which carries his name was built on the foundations of earlier Hellenistic and Roman structures. This was the site of the ancient city of Carpasia built first by the Phoenicians. The city was destroyed by Arab raids in 802. Traces of its old harbour with remains of stone blocks and columns can be distingished.
The church consisted of a columned courtyard, a narthex and a nave with aisles ending with a triple-apse. The original floors of this monument were paved with colourful stone pieces in red, white and grey. In the 12th century a domed Byzantine church was built on the ruins of this construction. To the southeast of the complex are the remains of a cistern and a baptistery.
Aphendrika (Efendrika)
Aphendrika was known as one of the six important cities of Cyprus at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. Research has brought to light the remains of a citadel, a necropolis with rock-cut tombs, the site of a temple, and the ancient (silted) harbour of this settlement.
By the 8th century Cyprus seems to have recovered from the Arab raids and though smaller than those of the previous period new churches were built. The churches of this period had sturdy masonry piers to divide the nave from the aisles, wooden roofs, and apsed east ends. The three ruin groups clustered together not far from Aphendrika belong to this group.
The first of these is the church of Ayios Yeoryios (St George) which was originally a domed
Byzantine structure erected at the turn of the 10th century. The building had a double apse with niches on either side. The rounded-square drum under the fallen dome rested on arches linking the four piers just west of the apses.
The church of Panagia Chrysiotissa was built in the 6th century. After it was destroyed by the Arab raids its original wooden roof was replaced with barrel vaulting at the end of the 10th century. It had blind arcades. Following a second destruction in medieval times it was rebuilt in the 16th century.
This basilica, whose ruins have survived to the present day, had pointed barrel vaulting and occupies only a part of the former site. A column surviving at the spot that it was erected in the first arch of the south wall of the later church helps to identify the arrangement of the columns in the previous building. Half-column fragments in the western part and in the apse also belong to the previous structure.
The Panagia Asomatos basilica which was also built in the 6th century is in better condition. Its plan was similar to Panagia Chrysiotissa. After its destruction by the Arabs its wooden roof was also replaced with barrel vaulting at the end of the 10th century. It preserves its apsidal passages and vaulting over the southern aisle.
Apostolos Andreas Monastery
Christian literature has it that in one of his travels St Andrew was returning to Palestine on a vessel whose captain was one-eyed. They put ashore here and St Andrew struck the rock, and out gushed a spring whose water cured illnesses. Thus, St Andrew restored the captain's sight.
The present day building is new. Below it and close to the sea there is a rock grotto over which a 15th century chapel has been erected on a tiny spring of freshwater.
Kastros
The tip of the peninsula known as the Cape Apostolos Andreas (Zafer Burnu) has the remains one of the earliest Neolithic settlements on the island (6000-5800 BC) on the wind-protected southern slope of a hill. The finds - fish bones, sea-shells and fishing implements - show that the inhabitants lived mostly on fishing. The obsidian artefacts have led archaeologists to think that they were either from Anatolia or had connections with Anatolia.