Cyprus

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I'm off to Cyprus at the end of March for a work trip to visit a thrilling RAF base.

Anyone know if there's anything megalithic (on the Greek side) worth wangling a day trip to?

J
x

Not sure about megaliths, but I do know there's a ghost town there. Its got something to do with the Greece/Turkey dispute - the whole place was evacuated (maybe its on a border between Greek & Turkish areas?) and its supposed to be very spooky (you can only look at it from a distance, though). Its like the Marie Celeste - people's cars still parked in the street, that kind of stuff, but not a soul...

Didn't see much megalithic stuff when we were there, you may have to be satisfied with Greek / Roman ruin type things, shouldn't be too busy or hot in March so you should be able to see a few things without the normal hordes of tourists.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.bradley450/Megalithia.htm

My colleague at work has just had a house built there. As soon as he sells his house here, he's off!

He's not aware of any old stones, but it's not really an interest of his. If any are found though, then I've got somewhere to stay next year!!

Finding anything is tough... I did find an overview of pre-Roman occupation at http://72.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CY/CYPRUS.htm

http://www.stonepages.com also has a couple of references to found tombs etc. Doesn't seem to be much there though...

There are some rock-cut tombs at the incorrectly named "Tombs of the Kings", just north of Paphos that date to around 400BCE. The site is extensive and impressive and is great fun for kids to explore (even big kids). Allocate a few hours to explore it. You can get there (and back) by bus from Kato Paphos for 50p each way.

There are some good restaurants if you walk south for 10 minutes (or take the bus one stop for another 50p) , e.g. Fat Mama's (arrive early or you'll have to queue) or 5 mins to the north is the 5 star Venus Beach Hotel that is welcoming to non-residents; use any of their facilities or attend their evening shows at no charge. Check with Tassos on reception for a list of their special events. We went for their flambe evening and had a delicious flambed tiger prawn Thai-style curry. The hotel was due to undergo refurbishment over the winter, so it's possible that it may not be open again yet.
Alternatively, if you just want a lunch, head back to Kato Paphos and look for a restaurant on the harbour that has fresh grilled sardines on the blackboard.

Anyway, back to archaeology, I found the following that includes some references to neolithic sites:

http://members.aol.com/EastMedit/aja/aja98.html

Not remotely Megalithic - There are some gorgeous museums/galleries of icons.
Also the Knights Templars are still in evidence in weird symbolism in the churches
And spectacles are very very cheap there, so go over with a prescription :)

I'm off to cyprus in a couple of weeks so have been reading hrough these old posts, thanks for the info....anything more to tell since then?
Would be much appreciated

Poli Kala,

micmacmoc