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Cyprus Traditional Village Workshops

Cyprus Traditional Village Workshops

Traditional Cyprus villages relied on specialized structures beyond the main living quarters to support agricultural life and craft production. In the house there was always a utility room called jellari, where vegetables, flour, oil, wine, olives and other products were stored, and tools of labor were also put here, including plows, shovels, and axes. Very often the utility room was combined with a barn for animals. These functional spaces formed integral parts of village architecture, enabling families to process crops, shelter livestock, produce handicrafts, and store the harvest that sustained them through seasons. The workshops where potters shaped clay, olive mills where villagers pressed oil, and carpenters crafted furniture all operated as community resources that defined village economic and social character. The Jellari and Animal Barns The jellari served as the household's storage center and often occupied ground floor rooms in two-story houses. The thick stone walls provided cool, dark conditions ideal for preserving food through Cyprus's hot summers. Families stored grain in large earthenware jars called pitharia, olive oil in smaller vessels, wine in wooden barrels or clay amphorae, and dried fruits and vegetables hung from ceiling beams. The jellari's temperature remained stable year-round, preventing spoilage and insect damage. Animal barns occupied spaces adjacent to or integrated with the jellari. If the house had two floors, then domestic animals…

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Left-Hand Driving System in Cyprus

Left-Hand Driving System in Cyprus

Cyprus stands out in Europe as one of only four countries where cars travel on the left side of the road. This unique characteristic catches many visitors by surprise, but it reflects a fascinating blend of historical influence and practical continuity that has shaped the island's transportation system for over a century. The British assumed administrative control of Cyprus in 1878 through the Cyprus Convention with the Ottoman Empire. The island officially became a British crown colony in 1925 and remained under British rule until gaining independence in 1960. During this 82-year period, British authorities introduced left-hand traffic to match the system used throughout the British Empire. At that time, the British Empire was expanding rapidly across the globe. Countries under British control, including Australia, India, New Zealand, and numerous others, all adopted left-hand driving. When Cyprus joined this group, it made practical sense to maintain consistency with other British territories. The infrastructure built during the colonial period, from road layouts to signage systems, was all designed for left-hand traffic. When Cyprus gained independence in 1960, authorities faced a choice about whether to switch to right-hand driving like most European countries or maintain the existing system. They chose to keep left-hand traffic because the population had become accustomed to it over eight decades, and changing would have required massive infrastructure…

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Avakas Gorge Cave

Avakas Gorge Cave

Avakas Gorge is a 3-kilometer-long limestone canyon located in the Akamas Peninsula, 16 kilometers west of Paphos. The gorge was created by the Avgas River, a seasonal stream that flows only in winter and spring. Over countless thousands of years, this modest river carved through layered limestone and created walls that reach 30 meters high in some sections. The gorge is part of the Natura 2000 protected area network and attracts roughly 100,000 visitors per year according to forestry authorities. What makes it special isn't just the height of the walls but how narrow the passage becomes. In places, the gorge squeezes down to only 4 meters wide with cliffs towering on both sides and a strip of sky visible overhead. This creates dramatic light effects as sun filters down through the gap. Historical Background The rock that forms Avakas Gorge is limestone from the Mamonia Complex and was deposited in warm seas during the Mesozoic era millions of years ago. This limestone contains layers of reef formations, shell fragments, and marine sediments that hardened into stone. When Cyprus rose from the ocean and these rocks emerged on land, they became vulnerable to erosion. Limestone is soft enough that water can dissolve it chemically and carve it physically. During the Pleistocene era, roughly 2 million to 12,000 years ago, the…

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