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The Myths & Legends of Cyprus

The island of Cyprus is well known for its history and for being steeped in myths and legends.  There are often several different versions of a tale claiming to be the real story but the one thing they all have in common is that they are all fascinating to hear about!   There are several well known legends which we will give you an insight into, but there are plenty more than this so try and pick up as many as you can on your travels. Read more

Recent History of Cyprus

The recent history of Cyprus is almost as turbulent as the island’s ancient history, and it has resulted in us living on a divided island to this day. There are many books written about the Cyprus Divide and we can only suggest that knowledge is sought by yourselves in to how this divide came to be.

Below we state what is known and agreed upon, but should you be interested to know more and read various individual’s opinions on the complex and highly emotive subject then please visit our books section for some well researched material on the matter. We have gained most of our information from the CIA World Factbook.

Recent History

The entire island of Cyprus is a former British colony; after many years of resistance to the ongoing British rule the island gained its independence in 1960 after the signing of the Treaty of Zurich, which also was designed to protect the rights of the Turkish Cypriot population. The treaties guarantors were Turkey, Great Britain and Greece. Read more

Ancient History of Cyprus

Due to the island’s geographical position, it is inevitable that over the centuries this has proved to be both Cyprus’ downfall as well as her greatest asset. The island has pretty much been visited, conquered, ruled and preyed upon by anyone who was anyone in history! There have been a myriad of cultures that have greatly influenced the island’s culture, providing wealth and prosperity, as well as bringing about periods of turbulence, poverty and neglect.

c. 7000/6500BC – The Neolithic Period saw settlers arriving from places such as Syria, Turkey and Palestine. Their main settlements seemed to be in coastal areas such as Zafer Burnu on the eastern peninsula, Lefke, Çatalkoy and Güzelyurt.

c. 2500BC – The Bronze Age saw Cyprus prosper with the rapid development of ship usage and copper mining, and she was firmly placed on the map of the international trade routes. More settlers arrived from such places as Anatolia, they forged cultural and trade relations with Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria and Mycenaean Greece. Read more