Agios Filon Beach

Cyprus


With its soft sand and big, flat sea rocks, this is a fantastic beach some 5km north of Dipkarpaz. It’s also a turtle-hatching beach and a great place to watch the sunset. The 12th-century Agios Filon Church stands silently on the sparse coastline, next to the Oasis at Ayfilon hotel and restaurant. Its well-preserved outside walls were built over an earlier 5th-century Christian basilica. The conceptual mosaics from the basilica can be seen outside the walls of the later church.

This area was once the ancient site of Karpasia, prominent during the Hellenistic period and the Middle Ages. A Roman harbour was also situated here, and the remains of the breakwater can still be seen in the sea.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cyprus attractions

1. Afendrika

4.12 MILES

About 7km east of Agios Filon Beach is Afendrika, a major city in the 2nd century BC. What remains is a set of contiguous ruins comprising three churches:…

2. Kastros Hill Cave Tomb

7.99 MILES

Near Kaleburnu (Galinoporni), is the large Kastros Hill Cave Tomb which still has shallow niches carved into the floor where the bodies of the dead once…

3. Agios Thyrsos

9.01 MILES

The church of Agios Thyrsos sits majestically on the seafront, with waves lapping the black rocks of the coast below. Although the church's interior is…

4. Karpaz Gate Marina

9.25 MILES

Yenierenköy's luxury €15 million marina offers berthing for yachties in the Karpas Peninsula. For those not arriving on the island aboard their own yacht,…

5. Golden Beach

9.87 MILES

Possibly the best on the island, Golden Beach is worth the trip to the Karpas in itself. Its white-sand dunes and gentle curves meet the calm, clear sea,…

6. Basilica of Agia Triada

10.06 MILES

Although only the foundations and a few battered half-columns of this 5th-century basilica survived to show the rough outline of the building, the…

7. Monastery of Apostolos Andreas

11.64 MILES

It's not as glitzy as other churches, with a plain, small interior holding an iconostasis with some lovely icons from the late 19th century. But the…

8. Zafer Burnu (Cape Apostolos Andreas)

12.75 MILES

A mere 3km from the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, along a dirt track, is the easternmost tip of Cyprus. From here you can see the cluster of rocky isles…