Cyprus : Places of interest : DK Travel

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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.
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).
Lofou

Sleepy Lofou, set on wooded hilltops in the Troodos foothills, is dazzlingly pretty, with clumps of bougainvillea and morning glory hanging from crumbling buildings.
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.
Magic Dancing Waters, Protaras

Children (and most likely parents) will be enthralled by this one-hour rainbow-like display of illuminated fountains that seem indeed to make the water dance and change colour to a programme of classical and pop music themes. Get there early or book in advance from the tourist office, as seats are always at a premium.
Malia

The crumbling minarets of mosques that have remained unused since their Turkish Cypriot faithful fled in 1974 lend this half-deserted village a melancholy ambience.
Monagri

Picturesque Monagri is well worth a visit to see its 12th-century church, Panagia tis Amasgou (see Panagia tis Amasgou). The monastery church is unique, with carved stonework dating from the Ottoman era, when it was used as a mosque, and stone pillars salvaged from a Roman temple. Also here is the Monagri Foundation, an art gallery and studio housed in the former Archangelos monastery. The gallery also houses a restored Roman olive press.
Mount Olympus

Visit the highest peak of the Troodos range for fantastic views over the mountains and down to the sea. It’s a welcome breath of cool mountain air in summer and, from January to early March, a skier’s delight. The 1,950-m (6,400-ft) peak shares its name with the much higher mountain that was the legendary home of Zeus and the rest of the Greek gods on mainland Greece, and with other summits in the Greek islands and Asia Minor. It is also known as Chionistra or “the snowy one” (see Mount Olympus).
Nicosia Walled City

Cyprus’s capital city is a mélange of medieval, colonial and modern influences. Within the brooding ramparts built by the Venetians are the narrow pedestrian streets and prettily restored buildings of the Laiki Geitonia pedestrianized district, full of souvenir shops and cafés. But the city also offers more than a day’s worth of museums and heritage sites celebrating every aspect of the Nicosia’s history, from its ancient past to its traditional crafts (see Nicosia Walled City).