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Kyrenia - Culture |
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The
Turkish army invaded a magnificent city built by Greeks centuries ago on
the northern coast of Cyprus, on 20th July 1974. Its people experienced
the first wave of Turkish atrocities. Today its beauties are exploited by
the invader and the stolen properties are used to attract tourists in the
occupied part of Cyprus by the illegal regime. Situated
on the north coast of Cyprus, Kyrenia, with its 6,000 year long history,
unique remains of countless civilisations, miles of natural beaches, calm
sea, and mild climate is the perfect holiday resort.
Bounded to the north by the sea and to the south
by the Besparmak Mountain range, it offers the benefits of both sea and
mountain air, and is thus an ideal resort for health and relaxation-
indeed, many foreigners have retired here the beautiful harbour is
dominated by a majestic castle which houses a museum containing the
remains of an ancient ship which was salvaged from the sea. There are
several mosques and churches to see in the town, and the Museum of Folk
Arts, and of Decorative Arts and Painting are well worth a visit the
museum is housed in a typical old-style Cypriot house.
Inside is an interesting exhibition of
traditional crafts. The ground floor of this three-storey house is divided
into two parts by a pointed arch just under the main entrance door and was
used as a barn (granary).
On the first floor, there is a display of
everyday implements used by Cypriots centuries ago. They include an oil
press, a plough, agricultural tools, weaving looms, and large earthenware
pots. The second floor is a little more than a sitting room, but on the
third floor, there is a colourful display of traditional local
handicrafts, crochet-work, embroidered bedspreads, pillowslips, and
scarves, and a selection of Cypriot costumes and household items. The
museum is open daily, except on Sundays.
Museum is housed in a typical old-style Cypriot
house. Inside is an interesting exhibition of traditional crafts. The
ground floor of this three-storey house is divided into two parts by a
pointed arch just under the main entrance door and was used as a barn
(granary).
The
architectural features, however, take second place to the surviving wall
paintings. The great glory of the church is the Christ Pantocrator, which,
wounded by blasts of buckshot, stares down from the dome within a rainbow
circle. There is a flicker of surprise, a hint of recognition in Christ's
face, as if you might be yet another Judas coming to plant a fatal kiss in
a garden. Below him is a circle of winged angels and the Virgin and St
John lead saints in a procession before the empty throne. In the third
circle, the 12 apostles are seated on spacious thrones, an odd departure
from their usual standing-only rule, and below them are pairs of prophets
interspaced between the windows. The dome paintings date from the early
15th century. The posture of the figures and colours are typically
Byzantine, but there is also a breath of the Renaissance about them,
noticeable even in Christ's blue cloak which has an implicit sense of
drama and movement
The
Virgin Blachernitissa in the eastern apse, with its deep blue and old
gold, is part of the original 12th century decoration. She is flanked by
two archangels, Gabriel in scarlet and Michael in green, both wearing the
costume and carrying the red rods of ushers from the Comnenian court at
Constantinopole Vrysin, near Kyrenia, is an early pottery-using
Neolithic village, dated between 4-3000 B.C. The litter-strewn floors of
the huts were constantly replastered with clay, forming fascinating layers
filled with evidence of everyday life, which were dug away by
archaeologists in 1969. From the litter evidence, we know that the dead
were buried beneath the floors in close contact with the living.
Lamps lighted the inside walls of the huts were
plastered and the windowless interiors. The hearth fire and a nearby bench
were slightly raised above the floor, which was covered with rush mats.
Polished stone axes, hand mills, figurines, bone needles and fragments of
boldly decorated white pottery suggests a high level of culture.
Fish, sheep, goat and pig bones indicate a varied
diet. Cat bones also have been found, perhaps less for the cooking pot
than for the early humans need for 24-hour rodent patrols to protect
stored corn. It was at first presumed that the circular huts may have
supported a beehive-shaped dome like the Troulli houses of southern Italy,
but it now appears that the walls, though thick, are still not strong
enough. They may have borne a flat roof of timber and daub, or a pitched
thatch of reed like that of a both in the Scottish Highlands.
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