Cyprus, The island of Aphrodite... or is that Cats?

So onward we've gone to the Mediterranean Sea. After a long flight from Nigeria and an even longer layover in Dubai (very nice airport plus Emirates gave us food vouchers since our layover was so long) we finally arrived in Larnaca, Cyprus (left at 9:30am and arrived at 10:15am the next morning!)  One of the brothers from the church, Charlie, came with his wife to pick us up.  We chatted all the way to Limassol (Lemosos to Greeks) where we would be staying for the next week with the Mathias family: Dylan, Ann and Keable.  Dylan leads the Limassol Church of Christ.  They welcomed us into their home, offered us their food and gave us their bed to sleep in. A truly kind and welcoming family. We crashed for a few hours (I had no sleep since we left Nigeria the day before) and then took off to have dinner with Charlie and his family at a sea food restaurant in the mall.  Amazing how many American food chains have come to Cyprus - Taco Bell, KFC, McDonalds, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, BK...list is endless (of course Starbucks is all over too).

With Charlie, Isis, Christos and Ioanna

Cyprus is an interesting country.  Most of the people on the island are natives, called Cypriots. They have a very strong Greek culture. Language, food, family life, and religion are all pretty much Greek.  Most Cypriots are part of the Greek Orthodox Church.  There is a second group on the north side of the island. These are Turkish people.  Cyprus has a colorful past. Throughout history many civilizations and empires passed through the island conquering it and at later dates relinquishing control. Currently Cyprus has it's own government that according to the international community is in control of the entire island.  Though there is some tension in the north side because Turkey invaded the island back in the 60's and have been militarily occupying the north side of the island ever since.  There aren't any military conflicts today though there is still tension in the air.  Another interesting fact about Cyprus... cats are everywhere!  Everywhere we went, almost guaranteed, and actually kind of creepy, there were cats. (There's some speculation that the earliest cat fossils are found in Cyprus.)

Sculpture Park in Limassol

Limmasol

For our stay we wanted to hang out with the disciples and see a few of the sites.  Our second day there we went to a midweek service where I was able to share with the group the things Muthoni and I have learned on our RTW Trip. They'd been following the blog and were really excited to have us with them.  They were meeting in a new location so I got the honor of being the first speaker at this spot.

The rest of the week we hung out in town, walking along the Mediterranean seaside, the street markets and seeing some of the historic sites of the city.  Limassol is a quiet city, especially so now that it's been hit pretty badly by the recession.  Many shops are closed and abandoned in the heart of the retail district. During the summer months lots of tourists, most of whom are from the UK, visit the island. The beach was okay, though the sand wasn't very soft and the temperature was pretty cold.  We toured the Limassol castle which is a fort that was built next to the port a very long time ago (no one knows when).  It was later rebuilt by the Turks in the 16th century.  It is now a museum and contains pottery and other artifacts from as early as the 3rd century AD to as recently as the 19th century. They didn't let us take any pictures inside :(

Limassol town architecture

Inside the Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Ayia Napa, Limassol

A lot of old abandoned buildings

Typical restored buildings (bottom part) in Limassol

One evening we went for a drive into the mountains to visit one traditional Cypriot village known as Omodos. A lot of people have moved out of the small villages since it's hard to generate income. Omodos itself is a wine producing village.  We got to see some traditional winepresses, an old Greek Orthodox church which sits at the center of the village and an old monastery next to the church that is no longer in use. 

More modern house in Omodos

Cyprus has a dry climate, though in summer it can get very humid. They grow a lot of citrus fruit, especially lemons and tangerines, grapes, nuts, olives, avocados, legumes and potatoes. Limestone rock is predominant in the Cyprus landscape (the whitish areas you see in the picture below). 

Cypriot countryside

The mountains in Cyprus get snow during the winter months. They are less than 2,000 meters above sea level.

On Saturday we took a road trip to the west side of the island to a city called Pafos.  (For you biblical scholars this is the same city that the Apostle Paul visited in Acts 13 where he spoke to Sergius Paulus and also cursed Bar-Jesus with blindness).  On our way there we stopped at a beach called the Rock of Aphrodite.  Aphrodite is the Greek god of love and it is claimed that she was born in Cyprus at this particular beach.  The scenery was quite beautiful.  Supposedly if you swim around one of these rocks 3 times, you will find the love of your life. 

Tunnel to Aphrodite Rock

No need for me to swim around the rock. I have found the love of my life.

Keable and his friend Nicholas

We also got to see a few ruins of the North Gate of Paleopafos dated around 498 BC.  The city was once a great religious center. The city was sieged by Persians and tunnels dug during the siege can still be seen. Around 300 BC, this city was moved to a location closer to the harbor and named New Pafos. 

Remains of the wall.

Muthoni is standing on at least 2,500 year old stones.

Tunnels built to break siege walls set up by Persians

Arriving in Pafos we had a picnic on the beach and then went off to see the historical sights. The entire town of Pafos has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There is one main archaeological site that has the ruins of Sergius Paulus' house (from 1st century AD).  There were also other historical places throughout the city. One interesting place was an area within the Panagia Chrysopalitissa Church. In the churches compound there is a pillar known as St. Paul's pillar.  So according to tradition Paul was flogged here by Sergius Paulus before he converted to Christianity.  We also saw a fort built in the Byzantine period to protect the harbor.  When the British colonized Cyprus, they used the fort as prison cells.

Faros Beach where we had our picnic

One of the many amazing colorful mosaics that have been preserved since Roman times.

Friends in Cyprus

Turkish Baths

 Pillar in the middle of pic is the one Saint Paul was supposedly flogged on.

Our last days in Limassol we pretty much chilled until the day we left. We had dinner with another family for our last night in Limassol, Oleg and Raisa Gomenyuk. Such a great time with our brothers and sisters in Cyprus. We're so grateful to Dylan and Ann for sharing their home and their lives with us.  Truly a great memory.

On the day before we left Cyprus, we stayed in Larnaca so that we could see some of the history there. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so we didn't get to see much.

Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca

The remains of Lazarus were supposedly found here in 890AD in a sarcophagus and bore a description saying “Lazarus the four day dead and friend of Christ”. A church was soon after built that functioned first as a monastery but is now used by the Greek Orthodox Church for their services.

The supposed tomb of Saint Lazarus

Next up... Greece.