01 - Terebinth Tree, Apesia, Limassol District.
This tree is estimated to be 1500 years old and is likely the oldest living thing in Cyprus. Locally the tree is know as ‘Tremithos of Ai Yorkos’ (Terebinth of St George)
Although the word απαίσια in Greek, when the emphasis is on the middle syllable means ugly, the name of the village is pronounced in a different way, Απαισιά and the emphasis goes on the third syllable. The name Apesia is said to relate to the Apeso of Asia Minor. It is believed that the first inhabitants of the village came from Apeso.
In 2014 a painting by Degas worth an estimated £4.7M was stolen from a private collectors home in Apesia.
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08 - Kato Paphos, Paphos
The earliest known written record of cats on Cyprus refers to a story of Saint Helen of Constantinople. It is said tha she sent two boatloads of cats to a monastery on the island from Egypt or Palestine in the 4th century AD to deal with an infestation of snakes.
The earliest proven association of wildcats with humans has been found in Cyprus. In the ancient village of Shillourokambos archaeologists discovered what is believed to be the oldest evidence of a close relationship between humans and cats. Dating back 9,500 years the Neolithic site contains a complete cat skeleton buried with a human. This discovery pushes back the timeline for cat domestication by thousands of years.
Cats on Cyprus have been able to breed for centuries with comparatively little outside influence; this has resulted in a distinct, locally adapted variety of cat which appears to have developed as a feral population in the inner highlands, though is found throughout the island in modern times.
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11 - Chapel of Apostle Philip, Omodos.
A branch from a 1100 year old Bay Tree (Laurel) on the dashboard of a 1994 Mitsubishi L200. The Chapel of Apostle Philip is a remnant of an ancient monastery.
The perennial laurel tree that stands by the chapel is a plant that in ancient times was linked to the worship of Apollo, which implies that the area’s religious references go back thousands of years.
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27 - Red Lake (Kokkinopezoula), Mitsero, Lefkosia District..
The village of Mitsero is well know for its mines that began operating during the 1950’s, under British colonialism. The mines provided a livelihood to local residents, however, at the same time the miners were paying for their work with their lives as the working conditions caused the lung disease silicosis.
The mine not only caused problems for the workers, it also had adverse affects on the environment. As the mine was later abandoned, a large crater was left. The large crater fills with water during the winter months creating a lake. The waters red hue is due to its high acidity which prevents any living organisms to develop.
The Mitsero murders were a series of killings committed by Nikos Metaxas, a military officer in the Cypriot National Guard, between September 2016 and August 2018. Five of his seven victims were female immigrants he had met on the online dating site Badoo. The remaining two victims were young children and were the daughters of two of his adult victims.
The victims’ remains were found over a period of three months in 2019. Unusually heavy floods in April led to the discovery of the first victim, Mary Rose Tiburcio, at a mine shaft near the village of Mitsero. Another body was soon discovered at a firing range by Orounta. Three other victims were stuffed into suitcases and disposed of near Mitsero village in the Red Lake.
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29 - Tochni, Larnaca District. Turkish-Cypriot Cemetery.
Prior to 1974, Tochni had a mixed Greek Speaking Cypriot and Turkish Speaking Cypriot population. On 14th August 1974 Greek Speaking Cypriots together with Greek soldiers arrested more than 80 Turkish Cypriot men from the village of Tochni (including a 12 year old boy) and having kept them for a night in the Greek school, transported them in two buses to Limassol. According to the sole survivor, 19 year old Suat Hussein, the Turkish-Speaking Cypriots on one bus were driven to a location near to the village of Palodia where they were executed with bursts of automatic weapons. Anyone who was still alive was subsequently shot in the head. That night, Suat saw with his own eyes all his beloved ones fall dead beside him in the dirt.
Inter-communal violence and displacement have led to many Turkish-Speaking Cypriot cemetery’s in The Republic of Cyprus (ROC) suffering neglect.
30, 31 - Lefkosia (Nicosia) The Green Line
A UN-controlled buffer zone - also called the Green Line - extends approximately 180 km across the island and divides the capitol city with a militarised border and checkpoints. On 15th July 1974, 14 years after Cyprus won its independence from Britain, the Greek military junta and the Cypriot National Guard backed a Greek-Speaking Cypriot military coup d’etat in Cyprus.
This right-wing action fuelled by Greek nationalism, including extreme inter-communal violence, then led to the invasion of the Island by Turkey. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Turkey. 36% of the island is occupied by Turkey and a further almost 3% is occupied by British bases. Although the invasion was widely condemned, The UK and Greece, both guarantors of Cypriot independence, did not intervene.
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36, 37 - Panagias Theoskepastis, Marathasa, Lefkosia District.
The chapel was built in the 12th century close to Kalopanagiotis. It is almost enveloped by the branches of a 700 year old Kermes Oak Tree (commonly known as Palestine oak) where the church bell sits.
Legend has it that during an attack by an invading army the tree swooped down to hide the villagers with its branches and protect them. The word ‘skepastis’ comes from the Greek word for ‘covered’.
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41 - Yiayia Kika’s House, Kato Paphos,
My Paternal Grandmothers house. My Grandparents, my uncles and my father were made refugees in Cyprus in 1974. They were internally displaced from their home in the north with no right to return.
My Grandfather, who was a police officer in Kyrenia, was forced to fight during the Turkish invasion and the preceding Coup.
My father, who returns to Cyprus regularly, has not visited the occupied northern part of the island since 1974.
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43 - Kyrenia Castle, Kyrenia / Girne
My Grandfather was imprisoned in this castle after his role in resisting the Coup in 1974. With the help of the men he was imprisoned with, he managed to escape during the Turkish invasion.
My grandmother had fled the family home with her two youngest children during the inavsion, not knowing where my grandfather was and if he was alive.
My grandfather spoke very little about what happened in this period.
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45 - Archelogists, My Parents House. Dromolaxia, Larnaca District.
Over the last few years a team of Archeologists from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium have been staying for short periods at my pareants house. The team are working on excavations at Dromolaxia-Vyzakia (Hala Sultan Tekke).
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47 - Hala Sultan Tekke, Dromolaxia, Larnaca
Hala Sultan Tekke is a mosque and takya on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake. In 1760 A shrine (or mausoleum) was erected over the tomb of Umm Haram.
Known as Hala Sultan in Turkish tradition, Umm Haram was the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and foster sister of Muhammad’s mother, Amina. It is said she died falling rom a mule at this spot. In 1817 the mosque was completed, likely under the direction of the Cyprus governor Seyyid Mehmed Emin Efendi, in the classical Ottoman style. 48
49 - Cypress Tree, Nissou, Lefkosia District.
Many years ago, the village resembled a small island since it was surrounded by the Yialia River. The river would come from the mountains of Machera and would split at the Nisou area into two parts which would join again towards the East (in the Dali area). That is how it got its name Nisos or Nisou.
The Cypress of Nissou (sometimes ‘The Frank Cypress’ as it has been there since Frankish rule) is one of the tallest trees in Cyprus with a height of 28 metres and a girth of around 4.5 metres, it is estimated to be more than 500 years old.
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52 - Agia Solomoni Catacomb, Paphos
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54, 55- Troodos Station, limassol District.
Troodos Station (formerly Royal Air Force Troodos) is a remote Signals Station operated by personnel from Golf Section, Joint Service Signal Unit. The station parents the Mount Olympus radar site, operated by a small contingent of RAF personnel. Troodos Station is the oldest remaining British military base in Cyprus, dating from 1878. Initially it was used as a cool summer field hospital for troops from the Egyptian Campaign. British Army and Government officials also used it as a summer retreat. It is one of the highest military bases in the world.
When Cyprus gained its independence from Britain in 1960, (under UK dominion since 1878) the former imperial power retained two significant parts of the island. The soverign base areas of Akrotiri and dhekelia. Sovereign Base Areas, or SBAs, cover 98 square miles, or 3%, of the land area of Cyprus. This is 23 times larger than Gibraltar, another British overseas territory in southern Spain.
Unlike Troodos Station, the SBA’s have whats sometimes reffered to as a ‘silent border’ where you will find nothing to indicate that you were crossing from the Mediterranean island’s sovereign territory to another country’s territory (UK).
The Dhekelia base is used by GCHQ and NSA for surveillance. Curently the SBAs on Cyprus are directly involved in breaches of humanitarian law in the Middle East including fascilitating genocide in Gaza. Well over 500 surveillance flights have been flown over Gaza since December 2023 with information around the actions of SBAs being shrowded in mystery and censorship.
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58 - Khirokitia, Larnaca District.
An archaeological site from the Neolithic age listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The Neolithic village was built by settlers who through a period of insular isolation developed into a unique civilisation, known as the Cypriot Recent Aceramic Neolithic. The site was occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium B.C., and according to UNESCO is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The site is known for its circular buildings, anthropomorphic figurines and burial site.
In the prehistoric period, Cyprus played a key role in the transmission of culture from the Near East to the European world.
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This tree is estimated to be 1500 years old and is likely the oldest living thing in Cyprus. Locally the tree is know as ‘Tremithos of Ai Yorkos’ (Terebinth of St George)
Although the word απαίσια in Greek, when the emphasis is on the middle syllable means ugly, the name of the village is pronounced in a different way, Απαισιά and the emphasis goes on the third syllable. The name Apesia is said to relate to the Apeso of Asia Minor. It is believed that the first inhabitants of the village came from Apeso.
In 2014 a painting by Degas worth an estimated £4.7M was stolen from a private collectors home in Apesia.
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08 - Kato Paphos, Paphos
The earliest known written record of cats on Cyprus refers to a story of Saint Helen of Constantinople. It is said tha she sent two boatloads of cats to a monastery on the island from Egypt or Palestine in the 4th century AD to deal with an infestation of snakes.
The earliest proven association of wildcats with humans has been found in Cyprus. In the ancient village of Shillourokambos archaeologists discovered what is believed to be the oldest evidence of a close relationship between humans and cats. Dating back 9,500 years the Neolithic site contains a complete cat skeleton buried with a human. This discovery pushes back the timeline for cat domestication by thousands of years.
Cats on Cyprus have been able to breed for centuries with comparatively little outside influence; this has resulted in a distinct, locally adapted variety of cat which appears to have developed as a feral population in the inner highlands, though is found throughout the island in modern times.
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11 - Chapel of Apostle Philip, Omodos.
A branch from a 1100 year old Bay Tree (Laurel) on the dashboard of a 1994 Mitsubishi L200. The Chapel of Apostle Philip is a remnant of an ancient monastery.
The perennial laurel tree that stands by the chapel is a plant that in ancient times was linked to the worship of Apollo, which implies that the area’s religious references go back thousands of years.
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27 - Red Lake (Kokkinopezoula), Mitsero, Lefkosia District..
The village of Mitsero is well know for its mines that began operating during the 1950’s, under British colonialism. The mines provided a livelihood to local residents, however, at the same time the miners were paying for their work with their lives as the working conditions caused the lung disease silicosis.
The mine not only caused problems for the workers, it also had adverse affects on the environment. As the mine was later abandoned, a large crater was left. The large crater fills with water during the winter months creating a lake. The waters red hue is due to its high acidity which prevents any living organisms to develop.
The Mitsero murders were a series of killings committed by Nikos Metaxas, a military officer in the Cypriot National Guard, between September 2016 and August 2018. Five of his seven victims were female immigrants he had met on the online dating site Badoo. The remaining two victims were young children and were the daughters of two of his adult victims.
The victims’ remains were found over a period of three months in 2019. Unusually heavy floods in April led to the discovery of the first victim, Mary Rose Tiburcio, at a mine shaft near the village of Mitsero. Another body was soon discovered at a firing range by Orounta. Three other victims were stuffed into suitcases and disposed of near Mitsero village in the Red Lake.
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29 - Tochni, Larnaca District. Turkish-Cypriot Cemetery.
Prior to 1974, Tochni had a mixed Greek Speaking Cypriot and Turkish Speaking Cypriot population. On 14th August 1974 Greek Speaking Cypriots together with Greek soldiers arrested more than 80 Turkish Cypriot men from the village of Tochni (including a 12 year old boy) and having kept them for a night in the Greek school, transported them in two buses to Limassol. According to the sole survivor, 19 year old Suat Hussein, the Turkish-Speaking Cypriots on one bus were driven to a location near to the village of Palodia where they were executed with bursts of automatic weapons. Anyone who was still alive was subsequently shot in the head. That night, Suat saw with his own eyes all his beloved ones fall dead beside him in the dirt.
Inter-communal violence and displacement have led to many Turkish-Speaking Cypriot cemetery’s in The Republic of Cyprus (ROC) suffering neglect.
30, 31 - Lefkosia (Nicosia) The Green Line
A UN-controlled buffer zone - also called the Green Line - extends approximately 180 km across the island and divides the capitol city with a militarised border and checkpoints. On 15th July 1974, 14 years after Cyprus won its independence from Britain, the Greek military junta and the Cypriot National Guard backed a Greek-Speaking Cypriot military coup d’etat in Cyprus.
This right-wing action fuelled by Greek nationalism, including extreme inter-communal violence, then led to the invasion of the Island by Turkey. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Turkey. 36% of the island is occupied by Turkey and a further almost 3% is occupied by British bases. Although the invasion was widely condemned, The UK and Greece, both guarantors of Cypriot independence, did not intervene.
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36, 37 - Panagias Theoskepastis, Marathasa, Lefkosia District.
The chapel was built in the 12th century close to Kalopanagiotis. It is almost enveloped by the branches of a 700 year old Kermes Oak Tree (commonly known as Palestine oak) where the church bell sits.
Legend has it that during an attack by an invading army the tree swooped down to hide the villagers with its branches and protect them. The word ‘skepastis’ comes from the Greek word for ‘covered’.
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41 - Yiayia Kika’s House, Kato Paphos,
My Paternal Grandmothers house. My Grandparents, my uncles and my father were made refugees in Cyprus in 1974. They were internally displaced from their home in the north with no right to return.
My Grandfather, who was a police officer in Kyrenia, was forced to fight during the Turkish invasion and the preceding Coup.
My father, who returns to Cyprus regularly, has not visited the occupied northern part of the island since 1974.
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43 - Kyrenia Castle, Kyrenia / Girne
My Grandfather was imprisoned in this castle after his role in resisting the Coup in 1974. With the help of the men he was imprisoned with, he managed to escape during the Turkish invasion.
My grandmother had fled the family home with her two youngest children during the inavsion, not knowing where my grandfather was and if he was alive.
My grandfather spoke very little about what happened in this period.
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45 - Archelogists, My Parents House. Dromolaxia, Larnaca District.
Over the last few years a team of Archeologists from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium have been staying for short periods at my pareants house. The team are working on excavations at Dromolaxia-Vyzakia (Hala Sultan Tekke).
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47 - Hala Sultan Tekke, Dromolaxia, Larnaca
Hala Sultan Tekke is a mosque and takya on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake. In 1760 A shrine (or mausoleum) was erected over the tomb of Umm Haram.
Known as Hala Sultan in Turkish tradition, Umm Haram was the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and foster sister of Muhammad’s mother, Amina. It is said she died falling rom a mule at this spot. In 1817 the mosque was completed, likely under the direction of the Cyprus governor Seyyid Mehmed Emin Efendi, in the classical Ottoman style. 48
49 - Cypress Tree, Nissou, Lefkosia District.
Many years ago, the village resembled a small island since it was surrounded by the Yialia River. The river would come from the mountains of Machera and would split at the Nisou area into two parts which would join again towards the East (in the Dali area). That is how it got its name Nisos or Nisou.
The Cypress of Nissou (sometimes ‘The Frank Cypress’ as it has been there since Frankish rule) is one of the tallest trees in Cyprus with a height of 28 metres and a girth of around 4.5 metres, it is estimated to be more than 500 years old.
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52 - Agia Solomoni Catacomb, Paphos
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54, 55- Troodos Station, limassol District.
Troodos Station (formerly Royal Air Force Troodos) is a remote Signals Station operated by personnel from Golf Section, Joint Service Signal Unit. The station parents the Mount Olympus radar site, operated by a small contingent of RAF personnel. Troodos Station is the oldest remaining British military base in Cyprus, dating from 1878. Initially it was used as a cool summer field hospital for troops from the Egyptian Campaign. British Army and Government officials also used it as a summer retreat. It is one of the highest military bases in the world.
When Cyprus gained its independence from Britain in 1960, (under UK dominion since 1878) the former imperial power retained two significant parts of the island. The soverign base areas of Akrotiri and dhekelia. Sovereign Base Areas, or SBAs, cover 98 square miles, or 3%, of the land area of Cyprus. This is 23 times larger than Gibraltar, another British overseas territory in southern Spain.
Unlike Troodos Station, the SBA’s have whats sometimes reffered to as a ‘silent border’ where you will find nothing to indicate that you were crossing from the Mediterranean island’s sovereign territory to another country’s territory (UK).
The Dhekelia base is used by GCHQ and NSA for surveillance. Curently the SBAs on Cyprus are directly involved in breaches of humanitarian law in the Middle East including fascilitating genocide in Gaza. Well over 500 surveillance flights have been flown over Gaza since December 2023 with information around the actions of SBAs being shrowded in mystery and censorship.
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58 - Khirokitia, Larnaca District.
An archaeological site from the Neolithic age listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The Neolithic village was built by settlers who through a period of insular isolation developed into a unique civilisation, known as the Cypriot Recent Aceramic Neolithic. The site was occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium B.C., and according to UNESCO is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The site is known for its circular buildings, anthropomorphic figurines and burial site.
In the prehistoric period, Cyprus played a key role in the transmission of culture from the Near East to the European world.
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