The mountain castles of Cyprus and car hire
Car hire in Cyprus is the best way to get around the island, and the best deals can be found at Larnaca Airport and Paphos Airport online, when pre-booked before you travel.
Most striking of the Kyrenia Mountains rising beyond Nicosia is the Pentadaktylos (Five Fingers) whose stark sil¬houette gives the range its sec¬ond name. In Bitter Lemons, Lawrence Durrell, who lived on their northern slopes, calls the chain 'par excellence the Gothic range, for it is studded with crusader castles pitched on the dizzy spines of the mountains, commanding the roads which run over the sad¬dles between.
These Gothic fortresses lie now in noble ruin, victim not of enemy bombardment but of dismantlement by the Vene¬tians who could not afford their upkeep, the weather doing the rest.
Most spectacu¬lar is St Hilarion Castle, climbing three tiers of battlements and towers up to a 670m (2,200ft) mountain peak. (Be prepared for some uphill walking to tackle all three levels.) The castle was built around a church and monastery of the 10th century honouring Saint Hi¬larion, who fled here when the Arabs advanced on Syria.
An original Byzantine structure was fortified and extended by the Lusignans for their sum¬mer residence. Standing against formida¬ble winds, as its name sug¬gests, Buffavento, is the highest of the castles 954m (3,129 ft). It is little more now than a pile of crumbling stone accessible by car or donkey but once proudly defended the shortest approach from the coast to Nicosia.
Farthest east, Kantara Castle was built by the Byzan¬tines to control the Karpas peninsula after the departure of the Arabs in 965. The ruin offers from its uppermost tower, 630 m (2,068 ft), an ex¬quisite view of woodland and olive groves along the north coast. It was from here that the guard sent out flare signals to Buffavento which relayed them to St Hilarion, Kyrenia and Nicosia.
Kyrenia Cyprus
With sheltered harbour and a grand old castle, this charming town is the best place to stop for lunch. It has a genuine resort atmosphere, more relaxed than its sisters on the south coast. The massive Castle was used as a prison by each of the island's rulers from the Byzantines to the British, the latter locking up EOKA fight¬ers here in the 1950s.
The walls enclose a Byzantine chapel, royal apartments, and the tomb of Turkish admiral Sadik Pasha, conqueror of Kyrenia in 1570. Not least, it serves as a museum for the Kyrenia Ship, one of the old¬est vessels ever recovered from the sea.
This Greek trad¬ing ship sank off the coast here about 300 BC and was discov¬ered in 1965 by a sponge diver. The hull has been pains¬takingly reconstructed and is shown with part of its cargo ¬Rhodian wine jars, millstones, cooking utensils and a con¬signment of almonds.
Bellapais Abbey near Kyrenia Cyprus
A short drive into the foothills behind Kyrenia leads to this superbly situated 13th and 14thcentury Gothic abbey. Looking down to the distant sea, it stands on a 30m (100 ft) escarpment, its monastery buildings enclosing cypress trees, palms, orange and olive trees.
Though 'beautiful country' would be an entirely ap¬propriate explanation for its name, it was more probably Abbey of Peace (Abbaye de La Paix), built by the Lusignans for the Augustinian order. The elegant arcade of the cloister is adorned with finely carved figures: a fox, an ass, a hero fighting two monsters.
The vaulted refectory is a splen¬did space of six bays with a well-preserved rose window. Among vestiges of the monks' wooden benches, the one on the east wall is set higher, probably for the Abbot's High Table. The surrounding village was Lawrence Durrell's Bitter Lemons home, but friends and their families have all sought refuge elsewhere and their Tree of Idleness has died.
Famagusta Cyprus
On the island's east coast, the port was only a village when Christian refugees arrived in 1291 from Palestine. A centu¬ry later, it was a notorious boom town of extravagant merchants, courtesans and colourful rascals. That all ended in 1571 when the Turks massacred its citizens after a prolonged siege.
It rose again to become in this century the most impor¬tant port in Cyprus and a major tourist centre. But the invasion of 1974, less blood-thirsty but still traumatic, left Famagusta Gazimagusa in Turkish ¬only a shadow of its former self.
Since the departure of Greek Cypriots from the southern part of town, Varosha, the beach resort area is deserted and off-limits. Yet the Venetian fortifications and old town where the Turkish Cypriots always traditionally lived are still of great interest.
Down by the harbour stands the Citadel, better known as the Tower of Othel¬lo, associated with a 16th¬-century Lieutenant Governor of Cyprus named Christoforo Moro, who was possibly the model for Shakespeare's tor¬mented Moor.
Notice the crest of Venice's winged lion of St Mark over the barrel-arched entry. The moated tower has four corner turrets and a good view over the port one of those places where photogra¬phy is risky. Most formidable of the Venetian fortifications is the Martinengo Bastion in the northwest corner of the old town. In the siege, the Turks inspected its walls, 46 m (1319 ft) thick, and looked for something easier. The Lusignans built the 88 town's churches, at one time numbering 365.
The palace entertained the graceful Corinthian columns 19th-century Turkish national were brought here from the poet Namik Kemal for three Theatre and re-erected by the years for criticizing the Sultan. Byzantines. In the adjoining Public Baths, you can distin¬guish the jrigidarium, tepidar¬ium and the hot room¬ caldarium with water heated by furnaces beneath the floor. The water itself was chan¬nelled from Kythrea, 60 krn (37 miles) away via a Roman aqueduct still standing.
St Barnabus Monastery Cyprus
A couple of minutes' drive west of Salamis is the mau¬soleum of Barnabas, fellow apostle of Paul on their mission to Cyprus in AD 45. (He achieved martyrdom in Salamis at the hands of Jews he was trying to convert.) The rock-cut burial chamber is now empty, but its discovery some 400 years later helped the Church of Cyprus achieve autonomy within the Orthodox faith and led to the building of the monastery nearby. The present drum¬-domed church was built in 1756 with elements from an earlier 15th century church and columns and capitals from Salamis.
Most striking of the Kyrenia Mountains rising beyond Nicosia is the Pentadaktylos (Five Fingers) whose stark sil¬houette gives the range its sec¬ond name. In Bitter Lemons, Lawrence Durrell, who lived on their northern slopes, calls the chain 'par excellence the Gothic range, for it is studded with crusader castles pitched on the dizzy spines of the mountains, commanding the roads which run over the sad¬dles between.
These Gothic fortresses lie now in noble ruin, victim not of enemy bombardment but of dismantlement by the Vene¬tians who could not afford their upkeep, the weather doing the rest.
Most spectacu¬lar is St Hilarion Castle, climbing three tiers of battlements and towers up to a 670m (2,200ft) mountain peak. (Be prepared for some uphill walking to tackle all three levels.) The castle was built around a church and monastery of the 10th century honouring Saint Hi¬larion, who fled here when the Arabs advanced on Syria.
An original Byzantine structure was fortified and extended by the Lusignans for their sum¬mer residence. Standing against formida¬ble winds, as its name sug¬gests, Buffavento, is the highest of the castles 954m (3,129 ft). It is little more now than a pile of crumbling stone accessible by car or donkey but once proudly defended the shortest approach from the coast to Nicosia.
Farthest east, Kantara Castle was built by the Byzan¬tines to control the Karpas peninsula after the departure of the Arabs in 965. The ruin offers from its uppermost tower, 630 m (2,068 ft), an ex¬quisite view of woodland and olive groves along the north coast. It was from here that the guard sent out flare signals to Buffavento which relayed them to St Hilarion, Kyrenia and Nicosia.
Kyrenia Cyprus
With sheltered harbour and a grand old castle, this charming town is the best place to stop for lunch. It has a genuine resort atmosphere, more relaxed than its sisters on the south coast. The massive Castle was used as a prison by each of the island's rulers from the Byzantines to the British, the latter locking up EOKA fight¬ers here in the 1950s.
The walls enclose a Byzantine chapel, royal apartments, and the tomb of Turkish admiral Sadik Pasha, conqueror of Kyrenia in 1570. Not least, it serves as a museum for the Kyrenia Ship, one of the old¬est vessels ever recovered from the sea.
This Greek trad¬ing ship sank off the coast here about 300 BC and was discov¬ered in 1965 by a sponge diver. The hull has been pains¬takingly reconstructed and is shown with part of its cargo ¬Rhodian wine jars, millstones, cooking utensils and a con¬signment of almonds.
Bellapais Abbey near Kyrenia Cyprus
A short drive into the foothills behind Kyrenia leads to this superbly situated 13th and 14thcentury Gothic abbey. Looking down to the distant sea, it stands on a 30m (100 ft) escarpment, its monastery buildings enclosing cypress trees, palms, orange and olive trees.
Though 'beautiful country' would be an entirely ap¬propriate explanation for its name, it was more probably Abbey of Peace (Abbaye de La Paix), built by the Lusignans for the Augustinian order. The elegant arcade of the cloister is adorned with finely carved figures: a fox, an ass, a hero fighting two monsters.
The vaulted refectory is a splen¬did space of six bays with a well-preserved rose window. Among vestiges of the monks' wooden benches, the one on the east wall is set higher, probably for the Abbot's High Table. The surrounding village was Lawrence Durrell's Bitter Lemons home, but friends and their families have all sought refuge elsewhere and their Tree of Idleness has died.
Famagusta Cyprus
On the island's east coast, the port was only a village when Christian refugees arrived in 1291 from Palestine. A centu¬ry later, it was a notorious boom town of extravagant merchants, courtesans and colourful rascals. That all ended in 1571 when the Turks massacred its citizens after a prolonged siege.
It rose again to become in this century the most impor¬tant port in Cyprus and a major tourist centre. But the invasion of 1974, less blood-thirsty but still traumatic, left Famagusta Gazimagusa in Turkish ¬only a shadow of its former self.
Since the departure of Greek Cypriots from the southern part of town, Varosha, the beach resort area is deserted and off-limits. Yet the Venetian fortifications and old town where the Turkish Cypriots always traditionally lived are still of great interest.
Down by the harbour stands the Citadel, better known as the Tower of Othel¬lo, associated with a 16th¬-century Lieutenant Governor of Cyprus named Christoforo Moro, who was possibly the model for Shakespeare's tor¬mented Moor.
Notice the crest of Venice's winged lion of St Mark over the barrel-arched entry. The moated tower has four corner turrets and a good view over the port one of those places where photogra¬phy is risky. Most formidable of the Venetian fortifications is the Martinengo Bastion in the northwest corner of the old town. In the siege, the Turks inspected its walls, 46 m (1319 ft) thick, and looked for something easier. The Lusignans built the 88 town's churches, at one time numbering 365.
The palace entertained the graceful Corinthian columns 19th-century Turkish national were brought here from the poet Namik Kemal for three Theatre and re-erected by the years for criticizing the Sultan. Byzantines. In the adjoining Public Baths, you can distin¬guish the jrigidarium, tepidar¬ium and the hot room¬ caldarium with water heated by furnaces beneath the floor. The water itself was chan¬nelled from Kythrea, 60 krn (37 miles) away via a Roman aqueduct still standing.
St Barnabus Monastery Cyprus
A couple of minutes' drive west of Salamis is the mau¬soleum of Barnabas, fellow apostle of Paul on their mission to Cyprus in AD 45. (He achieved martyrdom in Salamis at the hands of Jews he was trying to convert.) The rock-cut burial chamber is now empty, but its discovery some 400 years later helped the Church of Cyprus achieve autonomy within the Orthodox faith and led to the building of the monastery nearby. The present drum¬-domed church was built in 1756 with elements from an earlier 15th century church and columns and capitals from Salamis.
posted by The Car Hire Guy at
09:31
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