Lenios Beach Hotel

Larnaca Cultural Center

by Trillian2005

The Larnaca Cultural Center reminds me of Lewis Carroll's riddle: There's a street with five houses in a row....and who owns the zebra? Well, this is for you to figure out, I already did.

The Center is located at the philosophical end of the Phinikoudes (Palm Promenade), where Zenon has some words of wisdom for you before you look at any of the art and cultural exhibits. The exhibits are housed in five small, two-storey buildings who once served as warehouses and customs buildings belonging to the old port of Larnaca when it was still the new port of Larnaca. It was built in 1881. Not Larnaca, but the old port.

Instead of all sorts of merchandise and contraband this is what you can now admire in the five houses:
- the city art gallery, displaying art exclusively by Cypriot artists (in the first two houses)
- the muesum of paleontology and marine sciences of the Giorgos Tornaritis and Dimitris Pierides Foundation (in the second two houses).
- So what's in the fifth house?
I don't know, since the fifth house was closed, but I saw the local art and paleontology exhibition in the other four houses and I enjoyed it.

a tiny cemetery at the Djami Kebir Mosque

by globetrott

Next to the entrance of the Djami Kebir Mosque you will see a small muslim-cemetery with some interesting tombstones. These tombstones look very nice with a head or maybe a hat on top of them and the wonderfull inscriptions in arabic letters. There is a fence around these tombs and the cemetery is between the mosque and the street, so you can easily approach these tombs and take photos without disturbing anybody.

Hala Sultan Tekke

by gigina

Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram is a very prominent Muslim shrine near Larnaca, on the island of Cyprus. Umm Haram (Hala Sultan is the Turkish language name) was Prophet Muhammad’s ‘wet-nurse’ and the wife of Ubada bin al-Samid. Umm Haram, being of very old age, had fallen from her mule and had died during a siege of Larnaca. She was buried near the salt lake and her grave became a sacred shrine. The shrine, and later the mosque and the whole complex was named after her.

Cape Greco

by gigina

Cape Greco also known as Cavo Greco is a headland in the southeastern part of the island of Cyprus. It is at the southern end of Famagusta Bay.

It lies between the two towns of Ayia Napa and Protaras, both of which are popular tourist resorts. It is frequently visited by many tourists for its natural beauty. It is a protected nature park. From the high points on the cliff that rests at the cape one can view amazing sights out to sea.

According to local legend it is also the home of the 'Ayia napa sea monster'.

Despite the area's status as a natural reserve, the tip of the cape remains off-limits owing to a lighthouse, Cypriot military installations and the Radio Montecarlo International relay station.

Larnaca

by Trillian2005

"The Coastal City of Larnaca"

...was named after L. Arnaca who was the first mayor of Larnaca after Cyprus became an island.

Larnaca is a city on the southeastern coast of Cyprus. The major international airport of Cyprus, Larnaca International Airport, is located to the south of the city. In ancient times, Larnaca was known as Kition (in Greek), or Citium (in Latin). Its biblical name was Kittim. (Now that was our little language lesson for the day. I hope you had fun. If you don't remember a thing, that's just as well. I'm not going to test you.

Larnaca has a population of approximately 72,000 people. No exact numbers of its feline and canine populations are known. It is the island's second largest commercial port and an important tourist resort. The city of Larnaca is famous for its picturesque sea front palm promenade, a.k.a. Phinikoudes, in Greek. (By now we have reached the advanced level of our little language lesson, how cool is that)?

On the Phinikoudes you can encounter lots of people from all over the world, including native Cypriots. You may even run into one or two of your long lost friends. I'm not promising that you will, but it's at least possible.

"Larnaca is the oldest new city in Cyprus"

...sort of the Cypriot equivalent to Petach Tikvah, Israel, although Larnaca is much older. Legend has it that the first settlement was founded by Noah's great-grandson Kittim. Kol HaKavod, Kittim! Unlike other ancient cities of Cyprus that were abandoned by their residents, Larnaca, from the time when it was founded some 6,000 years ago, has been existing on the same site (geographical location that is - not website).

Originally it was the principal Phoenician colony in Cyprus, and it later became part of the Hellenistic world. The ancient site of Kittim is at the northern end of modern Larnaca. The Phoenicians are famous for their Phoenician alphabet.

"Like other cities in Cyprus"

...Larnaca has suffered from earthquakes, but that's not unique to Cyprus. Larnaca is sharing this fate with many cities in Greece, California, and others around the world.

Two famous Cypriot songwriters/singers hail from Larnaca, one is Anna Vissi, and the other is Alkinoos Ioannidis, who is actually not from Larnaca, but from Nicosia (a.k.a. Lefkosia), the capital city of Cyprus.