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A real treat for anyone with an interest in the hidden histories of Cyprus, this gem of a museum houses textiles, ceramics, wood carvings, copper and brass work, and basket-weaving.

The double-headed eagle of Byzantium and the lion of Venice are carved above the doorway of this former home of an 18th-century dragoman. The collection includes glass, silver, pottery and furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries (see House of Dragoman Hadjigeorgiakis Kornesios).

Vanished village skills live on in two 16th-century houses that have been restored and furnished with period utensils such as an olive press and hand-looms.

Step back in time with more than 500 exhibits here, from fancy costumes worn for holy days to more prosaic farm and household tools (see Limassol Municipal Folk Art Museum).

Old wooden handlooms, used by village women until very recently, are displayed here, along with spinning wheels and other tools of the weaver’s trade. The resulting colourful wall hangings and blankets are also on show.

Mule and manual labour were supplanted by the pick-up truck and tractor only very recently in Cyprus. This collection of farm tools – some of which hardly changed between pre-Roman times and the 20th century – is an eye-opener.

Basket-weaving was once a universal skill in Cypriot villages but is now a vanishing art. This museum displays the marvels produced by skilled weavers – not only baskets but trays, wall decorations, containers and even fish traps.

A charmingly eccentric collection of heirlooms, old photographs, farm tools, maps and pieces contributed by local people.

The Cypriot love of colour and ornamentation is celebrated in this small museum, with carved and painted gourds, pottery, and elaborate embroidered costumes for special occasions.

The best part of this museum, housed in the prosperous mansion of the influential Eliades family, is the bedroom with its fancy lace, carved furniture and embroidered costumes; other rooms display pottery and valuable 19th-century antiques (see Pafos).