Visiting Cyprus
We headed off to Cyprus in April for some non-Schengen travel after our extended stay in Bordeaux. Cyprus sounded interesting and it appeared that the weather would be nicer than the rest of Europe. We stayed in Limassol to start with, then moved to Paphos. Both towns are on the south coast overlooked by the Troodos mountains.
We visited archeological sites near both towns which provided some stunning examples of ancient Greek and Roman life. The locations and views were dramatic, and it was easy to see why civilizations settled in these coastal places, with this climate. Trips into the Troodos mountains and its vineyards were also enjoyable and offered a much slower pace of life.
Limassol boasts a lovely palm tree lined promenade along the harbour, bustling with cafes and bars. The city is more than an important commercial port attracting the international crowd giving it a cosmopolitan vibe. A new marina development is attracting up-market apartments and big yachts. Cyprus has become a favourite place for Russians to invest and receive Cyprus, thus EU, residence. From the British era, English is spoken by most people.
Paphos also has an attractive tourist center around the harbour, several beaches and bar lined shores. The old town rests quietly up the hill allowing visitors a respite from the coastal resort with many small boutique shops and cafes. The city is home to some pretty impressive archeological treasures with relics from prehistoric times, the middle ages and Roman times.
Attracting an international set of tourists to it’s beautiful beaches and bar lined shores there is a concentration of British retirees here. Previously a more down-market resort for British people, it appears to be moving up market. In addition, there is much development going on of luxury apartments. This is aimed at the Russians, Ukrainians, looking for residency. It was explained to us that the prices of the new apartments were based on the minimum investment residency requirements for foreigners. This allowed them to charge higher purchase prices than would normally be expected.
We enjoyed our time in Paphos swimming and visiting sites. A bonus was that our excellent apartment building had a gym and yoga studio next door. We were able to enjoy many workout sessions after indulging in all that delicious food in Bordeaux ! We enjoyed plenty of fresh fish in Cyprus, once we had translated what they were from Cyrillic to Latin alphabet in Greek and then into English! Google translate quickly became our best friend. There are many eastern Europeans coming to work here because of the good job market and climate. We met interesting people from countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Poland.
A little history – Cyprus has a very long history of settlers, invaders from the 10th century BC. Its strategic position made it an important base through the centuries for a variety of empires. All the usual suspects- Greeks, Romans, Venetians and Ottomans. Richard the Lionheart used it as a safe base for supplies in the crusades around 1191. He then sold it to the Knights Templar, who in turn sold it to the French Lusignan family. Venetians moved in by the 15th century followed by an invasion by the Ottomans in the16th century. In 1878 Cyprus was leased to the British by the Ottomans in exchange for support in treaty negotiations. This became an important military base for the British Empire, especially as close to the Suez Canal.
Through all this the predominate population was of Greek descent and later, to a lesser extent, Turkish. In the 1950s the Greek Cypriots tried to merge with Greece, but Turkish and British resistance resulted in an independent Cyprus in 1960. Britain still maintains territory on the island for two military bases. Tensions continued until the 1974 invasion by Turkey. This has resulted in a partitioned Cyprus, although the northern Turkish Cypriot region is not recognized by the UN or any countries. Currently, this issue is in the news as Turkey tries to drill for oil offshore of Cyrus. It has no recognized right to do this, so tensions are rising, with the EU and US supporting the legitimate Cyprus government.
