KYRENIA, Northern Cyprus
Posted by Jill Bowen on Fri 28th September 2007 at 08:51 PM, Filed in Europe
Kyrenia is an intriguing mixture of old and new with its 6000 year long history is an idyllic Mediterranean town. It’s bounded to the north by the sea, and to the south by the Fivefinger Besmark mountain range and offers some of the most magnificent scenery on the Island.
Shops selling traditional items rub shoulders with designer outlets, jewellery shops and bespoke tailors. During the day it’s a sleepy town, an easy place to while time, with holidaymakers searching for bargains, maybe being measured up for pairs of trousers or suits. A word of caution, do make sure you understand the quotation you are given for items. We had two pairs of trousers made-to-measure for which we were quoted a figure that we thought was for both pairs. When we returned to collect them it became apparent that the price was per pair of trousers. While cheap by UK standard for made to measure – not quite the bargain we were anticipating.
All roads in Kyrenia lead down to the tiny, peaceful, unspoilt harbour with whitewashed building and colourful boats bobbing in the water. Here you wont find shops selling buckets and spades and the usual tourist ‘tack’, just local shops and waterside restaurants where you can sit with a beer or coffee and watch the world go by. In the evening it comes alive, with locals and visitors out for their evening stroll, deciding on whether to eat at one of the many Tavernas, or one of the more upmarket restaurants – you are spoilt for choice. Wherever you walk you are never far away from the ruins of the walls and towers that have protected the town for centuries. The castle dominates the harbour and is well worth exploring, full of treasures of centuries of history. It’s likely that the original castle was built in VII A.D, and that it had three periods of main construction. I won’t go into great detail as there are guidebooks that will give you far more information than I have space for here, and will be more meaningful if you read one in conjunction with a visit.
One of the most fascinating areas within the castle walls is the Ancient Shipwreck Museum. It houses one of the oldest trading ships known to have contained cargo that was raised from the seabed during 1968 and 1969. There is evidence of her succumbing to rough seas around the year 300 B.C. The ships wooden hull had been well preserved in the sand, and during the expedition to raise her; each item was documented and labelled before bringing it to the surface. The items on show are the original ones carried with her on the last voyage about 2300 years ago, including perfectly preserved almonds (about 9000) which were found in jars, items of tableware, wine amphora’s, and many other items. These are shown in the ground floor of the museum, and you then proceed up a flight of stairs to view the actual hull of the boat, built mainly of Aleppo pine was preserved for a length of almost 40 feet. Carbon analysis shows that the boat was more than 80 years old when she sank.
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