Museum sights in Cyprus
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Museum of Barbarism
While the Turkish Cypriots may have taken down the gruesome posters and photographs that used to greet arrivals at the Ledra Palace Hotel crossing, they have not forgotten the atrocities committed by Greek Cypriots and in particular EOKA thugs against the Turkish Cypriot community. The Museum of Barbarism is in a quiet suburb to the west of the Old City and takes a bit of seeking out.
On 24 December 1963, a mother and her children, along with a neighbour, were shot dead in their bath by EOKA gunmen. The bloodstained bath is retained as one of the exhibits in this rather macabre museum. There are other photo-documentary displays, particularly of Turkish Cypriots murdered…
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Pierides Archaeological Foundation Museum
Dimitrios Pierides started his conservation efforts in 1839, as an attempt to salvage artefacts from notorious tomb raiders. Most famous among them was Luigi Palma di Cesnola, Larnaka's first US consul, who spirited away a large number of artefacts, which are now in New York's Metropolitan Museum. The collection was then expanded by Pierides' descendants, resulting in the well-coordinated Pierides Archaeological Foundation Museum, which is housed in Pierides' old residence, an elegant mansion.
The Pierides Archaeological Foundation Museum competes vigorously with the state-operated Archaeological Museum and features artefacts and finds from all over Cyprus, which have…
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Cyprus Museum
This is the island's most interesting museum and houses the best collection of archaeological finds in Cyprus. The original building, erected in 1883, is opposite the lovely municipal gardens. It's a 10-minute walk west of Plateia Eleftherias.
Highlights include the remarkable display of terracotta figures in room 4, discovered in 1929 at Agia Irini, north of Morfou (Güzelyurt) in the North. The 2000 figures, dating back to the 7th to 6th centuries BC, are displayed as they were found, in a semicircular order. Apart from two female representations, the figures are male and many are warriors. Their war chariots indicate the worship of a warrior god, presumably a centaur or…
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Makarios Cultural Foundation
This complex of the Makarios Cultural Foundation consists of three main exhibition areas. The European Art Gallery presents 120 oil paintings of various European schools of art from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The themes are mainly religious with works by Van Dyck, Rubens, Tintoretto, Lorraine and Delacroix. There's a library that opens for research and reading.
Nearby is the Greek Independence War Gallery, which contains maps, copper engravings and paintings of people and events from the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The Byzantine Art Museum has the island's largest collection of icons related to Cyprus. There are some 220 pieces in the museum, dating from the…
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Turkish Museum
The Turkish Museum is a former 17th-century tekke (monastery) of the mystic Islamic sect known as the Mevlevi Order, or more familiarly, the Whirling Dervishes. Their spiritual philosophy, started in the Turkish town Konya, is based on the mystical branch of Islam called Sufism. Among the displays of the Dervishes are interesting photographs of their dances in Nicosia in 1954.
The most fascinating part of the museum is the former kitchen of the tekke, the centre of the hierarchical order in which the Dervishes lived and moved from 'interns' to achieving Dervish status. Each new intern would have to prove himself worthy by taking on the role of a kitchen servant for…
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Cyprus Museum
This is the island's most interesting museum and houses the best collection of archaeological finds in Cyprus. Highlights include a remarkable display of terracotta figures, discovered in 1929 at Agia Irini, north of Morfou (Güzelyurt) in the North. Another highlight is the group of three limestone lions and two sphinxes found in the Tamassos necropolis south of Lefkosia in 1997. Dating from 475-400 BC, they show a strong Egyptian influence.
The 2000 figures from Agia Irini, dating back to the 7th to 6th centuries BC, are displayed as they were found, in a semicircular order. Apart from two female representations, the figures are male and many are warriors. Their war…
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Agios Georgios Museum
Of possible interest to buffs of recent Cypriot history is this rather bizarre and nationalistic Agios Georgios Museum located on the spot where the caïque Agios Georgios (now the museum's prime exhibit), captained by EOKA rebel Georgios Grivas, landed in November 1954 with a large supply of arms and munitions to start the uprising against British colonial rule.
Grivas and his band of rebels were finally arrested while attempting another landing two months later. The museum walls document the rebels' capture and subsequent trial, and make for some fascinating reading.
The site, known as 'Grivas Landing', is 4km north of Kato Pafos and is easily identified by the large…
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Byzantine Museum
In the courtyard of the Church of Agios Lazaros is the Byzantine Museum. From 1964 to 74, the museum's original ecclesiastical collection, containing priceless relics and artefacts, was moved and stored in Larnaka Fort, which had come under Turkish administration following the insurgences of the early '60s. In 1974 the administration of the fort reverted once more to the Greeks, but the priceless treasures had apparently disappeared.
All that is left of the original collection is the catalogue, and the missing items are still being sought. The present collection was assembled in their place, and it's still a fairly extensive and impressive display of Byzantine…
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Dervish Pasha Museum
The small Dervish Pasha Museum is housed in a 19th-century mansion. Built in 1807, it belonged to a wealthy Turkish Cypriot, Derviş Paşa, who published Cyprus' first Turkish-language newspaper. The house was turned into an ethnographic museum in 1988. Household goods, including an old loom, glassware and ceramics, are displayed in former servants' quarters on the ground floor.
Upstairs is a rich display of embroidered Turkish costumes and, in the far corner, a sumptuous selamlık (a retiring room for the owner of the mansion and his guests), replete with sofas and nargileh (Middle Eastern water pipes), and even some guests, in the form of eerie mannequins dressed up in…
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Byzantine Art Museum
Located within the complex of the Makarios Cultural Foundation, this museum has the island's largest collection of icons related to Cyprus. There are some 220 pieces in the museum, dating from the 5th to the 19th centuries.
Among the more interesting items on display are the icons of Christ & the Virgin Mary (12th century) from the Church of the Virgin Mary of Arakas at Lagoudera, and the Resurrection (13th century) from the Church of St John Lambadistis Monastery at Kalopanayiotis. In addition, there are six examples of the Kanakaria Mosaics, which were stolen from the Panagia Kanakaria (Kanakaria Church) in Northern Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion.
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Archaeological Museum
The city's Archaeological Museum has a largish collection of pottery, and a collection of items dating from Neolithic and Chalcolithic times (primarily of shards and implements for domestic use) through to Mycenaean pottery. A multitude of terracotta figures exhibited are thought to be the remains of votive offerings. There is a display of classical pottery, jewellery and oil lamps, as well as curiously modern-looking glass bottles and vials.
Although it pales in comparison to Lefkosia's Cyprus Museum, it's worth a browse; and if you've been doing nothing but sunbathing and clubbing for a week, the museum offers a nice, refreshing change of scene.
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Archaeological Museum
This small Archaeological Museum houses a varied and extensive collection of artefacts from eras ranging from the Neolithic period to the 18th century. Displayed in four rooms, the collection includes jars, pottery and glassware, tools, coins and coin moulds. Hellenistic and Roman artefacts include a limestone grave stele, marble statuettes, votive objects, pottery from the House of Dionysus and terracotta figures of dogs and stags.
All in all, it's a collection for the admirer of archaeological minutiae, although it lacks any outstanding items. It is worthy of a browse before visiting Ktima's other two museums.
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Time Elevator
You'll see lots of advertisements for the Time Elevator in Lemesos, which is slightly worrying, but also symptomatic of the kind of lightweight approach to the island's history and culture by many a package tourist, at whom this kind of thing is ultimately aimed. But the history of Cyprus, from 8500 BC to AD 1974 compressed into 40 minutes, is great if you're trying to force some history on your kids.
You get water, wind and lots of jostling, so much so that it's recommended that pregnant women and sufferers of motion sickness should watch the show from static seats. Shows start on the hour.
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Thalassa Municipal Museum of the Sea
The very swanky new Thalassa Municipal Museum of the Sea is dedicated to all things to do with the sea (thalassa means 'sea' in Greek). The centrepiece of the museum is the amazing reconstruction of the boat that was shipwrecked off the coast of Kyrenia in the 3rd century BC; it's original skeleton is displayed in Kyrenia Castle. The ship was reconstructed using traditional materials and methods. Behind it there is a large video projection of divers supposedly discovering the wreck in 1967.
The museum also has a stylish café, where you can have a quiet coffee, food or drink.
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icon museum
As part of the Agios Ionnis Lambadistis Monastery, there is also an icon museum. The main display is the collection of 15 icons, discovered in 1998, that date from the 16th century. As the informative and enthusiastic guide will tell you, the icons stood underground for many years, buried when the Orthodox priests ran from the invading Ottomans. Some of these icons went on tour in London in 2001.
The iconostasis (the screen holding the icons) has its top covered in carvings of the ferns that grow in abundance by the river in Kalopanayiotis, showing its local origins.
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Larnaka Fort & Medieval Museum
The prominent Larnaka Fort & Medieval Museum stands at the water's edge separating Finikoudes, Larnaka's promenade, and the old Turkish quarter. Originally a Lusignan-era castle, the present structure is a result of remodelling by the Ottomans from around 1605. It has nice views of the coastal part of town. There is little to see in the castle itself, but the upper floor contains a small Medieval Museum with various displays from Hala Sultan Tekkesi and Ancient Kition.
The open area inside the fort is occasionally used for concerts and other cultural events.
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Natural History Museum
The small but interesting Natural History Museum is dedicated primarily to the fauna, flora, geology, insect and marine life of Cyprus. Displayed in a series of eight rooms, the museum is very popular with school groups and is an excellent introduction to the natural history of the island.This is a wonderful place for children, as there is a little playground, and caged pelicans, flamingos, peacocks and macaws outside the museum, surrounded by a lush garden (part of the Municipal Gardens).
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Library of Sultan Mahmut II
The Library of Sultan Mahmut II is housed in an octagonal building erected in 1829. It contains some 1700 books, and the interior is decorated with a calligraphic frieze in blue and gold. Some of the books are up to 700 years old and the more valuable tomes are displayed in special cases. The books were on loan to the National Archive Library of Cyprus during the time of research.
The same ticket also gives you access to the Bedesten and the Lapidary Museum.
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Byzantine Museum
This noteworthy museum is south of the main square in Ktima. It is worth visiting for its collection of icons from the 13th and 14th centuries, ecclesiastical vestments, vessels, documents and copies of scriptures. The collection contains a 9th-century icon of Agia Marina, thought to be the oldest icon on the island, and an unusual double-sided icon from Filousa dating from the 13th century.
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Archaeological Museum
This purpose-built place has thorough explanations of items on display. There is a wide collection of pottery from Kition and a reconstructed Neolithic tomb from Choirokoitia, as well terracotta votive figures, Roman glassware and even folk art. Spread out over five rooms, the collection is worth a browse, although not so much if you have already visited the Cyprus Museum in Lefkosia.
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Kourion Museum
One of the main reasons for visiting Episkopi, 14km west of Lemesos, is the Kourion Museum. The collection mainly comprises terracotta objects from Ancient Kourion and the Sanctuary of Apollon Ylatis, and is housed in what used to be the private residence of archaeologist George McFadden. The museum is signposted off the Lemesos-Kourion road, as well as in Episkopi itself.
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Ethnographical Museum
The privately owned and maintained Ethnographical Museum houses a varied collection of coins, traditional costumes, kitchen utensils, Chalcolithic axe heads, amphorae and other assorted items. There is more of the same in the garden, including a Hellenistic rock-cut tomb. The guidebook available at the entrance will help you sort out the seemingly jumbled collection.
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Marine Life Museum
The small private Marine Life Museum, hidden away in the lower ground floor of the modern Agia Napa town hall, is a lot less flashy than the Thalassa museum. If you are into marine biology, fossilised shells, stuffed fish, sharks, turtles and sea birds, then drop in for a quick visit. The display is fairly limited, but well laid out and documented.
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Ethnographic Museum
The small Ethnographic Museum houses the largest collection of folk art and ethnography in the country. The building dates back to the 15th century, although some later additions have been made. Here you will see fine examples of embroidery, lace, costumes, pottery, metalwork, basketry, folk painting, leatherwork and woodcarving.
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Lapidary Museum
A visit to the Lapidary Museum is usually included in a visit to the Library of Sultan Mahmut II. This is a 15th-century building containing a varied collection of sarcophagi, shields, steles, columns, and a Gothic window rescued from a Lusignan palace that once stood near Atatürk Meydanı.
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