DK Travel : Cyprus : History & Culture

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La Cava Castle

Toppled ramparts mark the site of this Crusader keep.
Languages and Dialects

In southern Cyprus almost everyone speaks Greek, with only a handful of Turkish speakers. In the North, it’s the reverse. Cypriot Greek is a broad dialect that even native Greek speakers from Greece itself sometimes have trouble understanding. Mainland Turks have the same problem with Cypriot Turkish. In both communities, English is a widely spoken, semi-official language – southern road signs are in English and Greek.
Larnaka Archaeological Museum

Carved limestone column drums and capitals from ancient sites stand in the garden of the Archaeological Museum. Inside is one of the best introductions to the southeast’s fascinating archaeological sites, with its displays of Stone Age, Bronze Age and Roman discoveries brought here from Chirokitia, Kalavassos and many other local excavations (see Larnaka Archaeological Museum).
Larnaka Fort and District Medieval Museum

Huge rusting cannons stand guard over the waterfront from the battlements of Larnaka’s medieval fort, from which there are good views of the bay. Inside, the District Medieval Museum’s collection occupies a gallery on the first floor, with ferocious swords and daggers, medieval armour and flintlock muskets outshining an assortment of 12th- to 18th-century pottery and displays of Byzantine, Lusignan and Ottoman odds and ends. Occasionally in summer open-air theatrical performances are staged here.
Latsia

Plunging through rugged scenery, the Kakaristra Gorge at Latsia is this hillside village’s most important landmark. It can be explored alone, or with a local guide. Incongruously but entertainingly, the nearby Carlsberg Brewery (see Carslberg), just outside the village, is open for visits and houses the Photos Photiades Foundation’s natural history museum, an exotic glory-hole of stuffed, fossilized and pickled snakes, birds, mammals and marine creatures.
Lefkara

Famed for the lace-making skills of its womenfolk and the silversmithing skills of its men, Lefkara is home to a multitude of craft shops selling lace, embroidery and jewellery. If you’re not in the mood to buy, marvel instead at the beautifully made treasures in the Museum of Traditional Embroidery and Silversmithing.
Lempa

This 5,500-year-old Neolithic village has been painstakingly reconstructed by archaeologists (see Lempa Neolithic Village).
Limassol Municipal Folk Art Museum

Housed in a grandiose old merchant’s mansion, this museum’s collection is almost reminiscent of a jumble sale or an antiques shop. There is an eclectic assemblage of old wooden farm tools and household utensils. There are also silver necklaces and bangles, and decorative, elaborately embroidered and flounced costumes that only a generation ago local women would have taken out of mothballs on village feast days and special family occasions. A wonderful insight into traditional Cypriot lifestyles (see Agia Napa Cathedral).
Lythrodontas

Located some 25 km (15 miles) south of Nicosia, this village is best known for its olive groves (Lythrodontas claims to have more olive trees than any other village in Cyprus) and “Avli”, a beautifully restored complex of traditional buildings offering accommodation. The nearby abandoned Monastery of Prophitis Elias is worth a visit.
Machairas Monastery

This monastery was founded in 1148 by two hermits guided by divine intervention to an icon of the Virgin, painted by Luke the Evangelist. The icon survived fires which damaged the monastery in 1530 and 1892 – proof, to believers, of its miraculous powers (see Machairas Monastery).