Situated in the Northwest of Cyprus, Guzelyurt is one
of the richest agricultural areas in Cyprus, famous particulary for the Citrus
(Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit) and strawberries from the area which thrive in its
fertile red soil. Guzelyurt is an ideal picnic spot for those who want to
escape from the noise and rush of the city life and spend the day in the
peace and quiet of natural surroundings. In spring the light breezes
scatter the white orange blossoms from which you can smell the fragrance
around the town, while in other seasons the golden oranges and lemons
shine on the trees. A large proportion of the citrus fruits are exported,
and the remaining are made into fruit juice and canned for local
consumption and export. Visit the former Monastery of St. Mamas,
originally Byzantine with Gothic establishments. Some of the carvings date
from c. 1500. The Ruins of Soli (600 BC) and the Palace of Vouni, from the 5th
century BC, are a must for archeologists or those interested in
antiquities.
PALACE OF VOUNI
This 137 room palace was built on a hilltop by the Phoenician
pro-Persian king of the neighbouring city Marion to watch over the pro-Greek city of Soli, following an
unsuccessful revolt of the latter against the Persians in 498 BC. It was
the headquarters of a garrison and consisted of state apartments, large
storerooms and bathrooms. In 449 BC when the Persians were defeated and
the Greek rule was established, the ruler of Marion was replaced
by a pro-Greek prince and alterations were made and a second storey with
walls made from mud bricks was added. The pro-Persian and pro-Greek
histories of this royal residence lasted for some 70 years and after it
was destroyed by the inhabitants of Soli in a fire in 380 BC it was never
rebuilt. The entrance of the original palace of the first period was in
the south-west. Here a porch led to the state apartments: a main room (I)
and inner hall and on the two sides a series of connecting rooms
(2&3). This section of the palace is thought to have had an official
function. From here a broad stairway of seven steps led to columned court
surrounded with rooms on three sides. Water to almost all the main rooms
was supplied from the underground cisterns cut into the living rock of the
mountain, where the winter rain was collected. The stone stele designed to
hold a windlass over the cistern in this central courtyard has an
unfinished Figure at its centre and is thought to have been brought from
somewhere else. Some of storerooms (6) contain holes in which the amphorae
were sunk.
In the North-west corner there is a water closet (7)
beside another deep cistern. More storerooms (9) stood in the eastern
corner. On this side also stood a hot bath (10), one of the earliest of
its kind. When the Persian rule was replaced by that of the Greek, E1 was
closed and a new entrance (E2) was built. The ramp (II), an angled
vestibule (12), a stairway and an ante room (13) opening to the central
courtyard were added. New storerooms (14) around a courtyard (15) were
also built. During excavations a clay pot blackened by the fire which
Destroyed Vouni, gold and silver bracelets, silver bowls, and hundreds of
coins bearing stamps of Marion, Kition, Lapithos and Paphos were
discovered. The small rock island of Petra tou
Limniti visible from the palace has traces of a Neolithic settlement. At
the top of the hill on which the palace was built and towards the south
are the remains of a temple built for Athena in the third quarter of the
5th century BC. This sanctuary consisted of two successive courtyards and
a sacred enclosure. Here traces of the holes in which the statues were
secured have survived.
SOLI
The
origins of Soli are traced back to an Assyrian (700 BC) tribute list where
it is referred to as Si-il-lu. It is also known that in 580 BC, King
Philokypros moved his capital from Aepia to Si-il-lu on the advice of his
mentor Solon, and renamed the town after the Athenian philosopher. In 498
BC along with most of the other city kingdoms of Cyprus, Soli also rose against
its Persian masters and at the end of the war it was captured. Soli became
a prosperous city during the Roman period. However by the 4th century its
harbour was already silted up and the copper mines were closed. It was
destroyed by Arab raids in the 7th century. On the acropolis, which
occupied the top of the hill high above the theatre, there was a royal
palace similar to the one of Vouni, thought to date from a slightly later
period. In addition to silver and gold jewellery of the Hellenistic
period, excavations have brought to light a marble statue of Aphrodite
from the 1st century BC and a frieze representing the war of the Amazons
from the 2nd century BC (Cyprus Museum - Greek sector). The so-called
Fugger sarcophagus in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna is also
thought to have come from the necropolis of Soli. Excavations have also
brought to light some Hellenistic ruins such as the remains of a
colonnaded paved street which leads to an agora with a marble monumental
fountain. Excavations have shown that a settlement was made here as early
as the 11th century BC owing probably to the existence of a good water
supply, fertile soil and a protected harbour, the nearby copper deposits
and timber to smelt the copper.
BASILICA OF SOLI
Soli is known as the traditional place where St Mark received baptism
and St Auxibius, a Roman who fled the city in the 1st century, was its
first bishop. Its basilica was one of the earliest of its kind in Cyprus featuring its own
individual characteristics. The first church of Soli is thought to have been built
in the second half of the 4th century. This was a three aisled building of
approximately 200 m length. It began with a triple portal which led into a
vestibule which was followed by a colonnaded atrium with a fountain. A
second triple, portal led into the narthex. Inside, twelve pairs of giant
columns whose bases have survived separated the nave from the aisles. In
the east the church ended with a triple apse. The tiers of the central
apse were for the bishops and clergy. The floor of this first church was
entirely laid with tesserae and opus sectile mosaics. A large part of
these have survived to the present day. As is the case with the other
churches of Cyprus, originally the mosaics
were of geometric design. Gradually, animals and later opus sectile
decoration - pavements made from small coloured stone tiles - were
included in the repertoire. A goose-like swan surrounded with florals and
four small dolphins in the floor of the nave catch one's attention. The
Greek inscription in mosaic set in the apse reads "Christ save those who
gave this mosaic". During the 5th and 6th centuries the building was
enlarged. However, in the 7th century, it was razed to the ground. The
church which was built on the ruins of the original one in the 12th
century was smaller in size and occupied the eastern
section.
ROMAN THEATRE OF SOLI
The Roman theatre of Soli occupies the site of the original Greek
theatre on the northern slope of a hill overlooking the sea below. The
present theatre dates from the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd
century AD. It has a capacity of some 4,000 spectators. Its stage building
was of two storeys, covered with marble paneling and decorated with
statues. Its semi-circular auditorium where the spectators sat was partly
cut into the rock, and access to it as well as to the orchestra was gained
through two side entrances. A low wall of limestone slabs separated the
orchestra from the auditorium. The last surviving seats were carried to
Port Said
in the 19th century and used to rebuild the quaysides. At present this
section is restored halfway. From the stage building only the platform on
which it was built has survived. At the west of the theatre on a nearby
hill traces of the temples dedicated to Isis and Aphrodite have been
discovered. The famous torso of the Aphrodite of Soli in the Cyprus
Museum- Greek sector was found here.
ST. MAMAS MONASTERY
Tradition has it that in the 12th century Mamas, a poor Cypriot
hermit, refused to pay his taxes , and troops were sent to bring him to
the capital for punishment. On the way, the party came across a lion about
to kill a lamb. Mamas saved the lamb and taking it in his arms, rode the
wild lion and entered the capital in this way. The Byzantine authorities
were so impressed with what they saw, they released the hermit from his
obligations and since then St. Mamas has been regarded as the protector of
tax avoiders. All round the island there are 14 churches dedicated to St.
Mamas. The Monastery of St. Mamas situated in Guzelyurt was built in the
18th century. Its side portals and the columns of the nave are the earlier
Gothic church were built in the Lusignan period, and was built upon
Byzantine ruins. Its believed to be sided upon the tumb of St. Mamas. The
upper part of the iconostasis, carved of wood and painted in blue and
gold, is an exquisite example of late 16th century wood carving. Its lower
part is carved of marble and features figs, grapes and acorns, and
Venetian shields which once bore painted coats of arms. Its sarcophagus
contains two holes from which a balm against eye and ear diseases and
other illnesses oozes which also calmed stormy seas, bringing to mind the
"sweating stones" in other Byzantine churches.
THE GUZELYURT MUSEUM (THE ARCHEOLOGY AND NATURE MUSEUM)
The current museum building, used as the Metropolit building before
the 1974 period, houses the cultural objects found throughout Cyprus and
the area. The building was opened after the necessary restoration was
completed. The Nature section situated on the lower floor displays a
collection of died animals, consisting of birds, fist, snakes, foxes,
lambs and tortoise etc. which are sued for educational purposes. The upper
floor of the museum, houses the Archeology Section the archeological
pieces are displayed in chronological order. In the corner of the first
room, there is a display of material cultural remains belonging to the
Neolithic era, the people the Neolithic era being the first known
inhabitants of Cyprus. In this room there are
also displays from the Bronze age (old ages, middle ages and late ages).
In the second and third rooms there is an artificial display from the
Tunba Tu Skuru settlement. To prevent damage to the partially excavated
settlement site, North of the Ovroz river, the area has been closed to
visitors. The remaining two rooms of the museum hold findings belonging to
the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantinian
periods. The most interesting finding in the museum is the Efes Artemis
sculpture, found by coincidence near the Salamis area. |
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