The last divided capital in the world: Nicosia | Cyprus

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Nicosia is the capital and largest city on the island of Cyprus. 

The city is the capital of both North and South Cyprus. Divided between the Republican South and the Turkish-occupied North, the city is the world's last divided capital.

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2015 Europa stamp, Old Toys.

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Cyprus Turtle Beach - Lara Bay

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Lara Bay Beach, also known as ‘Turtle Beach’ is located at the Akama peninsula. The beach is famous for its turtle hatchery where loggerhead and greenback turtles lay their eggs – one of the few places in the Mediterranean where they can still be found.

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Cyprus | Painted churches in Troodos: Assinou Church

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The Painted Churches in the Troödos Region are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Troödos Mountains of central Cyprus. The site comprises ten Byzantine churches and monasteries all richly decorated.

 

Assinou Church is an early 12th century church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with frescoes of the 12th century and later periods, considered to be among the finest examples of Byzantine mural painting in the island.

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(right) Organisms of the Mediterranean marine environment - Sea Anemone

Thx Steve!

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Kaledonia Falls, the highest waterfall in Cyprus

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Kaledonia Waterfalls are located near Platres in the Troödos region. With (only) 15 metres the highest waterfalls in Cyprus. Platres is a mountainous village in Cyprus. It is located on the southern slopes of the Troödos Mountains. Please mind the lizzard sunbathing on the rocks.

Thx Steve!

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Sunset over Larnaca Salt Lake, Cyprus

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The Larnaca Salt Lakes are located west of the city of Larnaca, near the main airport. During the winter months the lakes fills with water whilst in the summer the water evaporates, leaving a crust of salt and a haze of grey dust. During spring and autumn seasons, the Larnaca's Salt Lake is visited by many pink flamingos.

 

The Mosque of Umm Haram or Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque is located on the shores of Larnaca Salt Lake.

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Issued 2013, 100th Anniversary of the Cyprus Scouts Association.

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Kykkos Monastery, Cyprus

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The Monastery of Kykkos is situated on a mountain peak, at an altitude of 1300 metres, northwest of Troodos. The monastery was founded sometime between the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the12th century. The first President of the Republic of Cyprus, ArchbishopMakarios III, served here as a novice.  

 

This card shows the entrance of Kykko Monastery.

Thx Steve!

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Ayia Kyriaki Church, Pafos, Cyprus

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Pafos is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus. The town is included in the Unesco WHS list.

The Panagia Chrysopolitissa or Ayia Kyriaki church was built in the 13th century over the ruins of the largest Early Byzantine basilica on the island.

The church is surrounded by Roman ruins and old mosaics. Within the compound one can see St. Paul's Pillar, where, according to tradition, Saint Paul was bound and beaten for preaching Christianity.

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Public Transport in Cyprus

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At least until the late 1980s, villages in parts of Cyprus were served by old Bedford buses. Nowadays still in use for weddings or events.

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London olympics 2012.

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Tomb of the Kings - Cyprus

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The Tombs of the Kings is a large necropolis lying about two kilometres north-west of Paphos harbour in Cyprus. The underground tombs are carved out of solid rock .The name of the site is misleading—there's no evidence of any royalty buried here. Rather, the site was the final resting place of about 100 Ptolemaic aristocrats who lived and died in Paphos beginning in the 3rd century BC.

Early antiquarians dubbed the site the "Tombs of the Kings" due to the impressiveness of the tombs, and the name has stuck.

Tombs of the Kings is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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From a set of four stamps about London olympics 2012.

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Cairo - The Egyptian Museum

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The Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. One of them is the solid gold innermost coffin of Tutankhamen.

Tutankhamun, or better known as King Tut, is an 18th dynasty pharaoh who inherited the throne at a young age. His reign was short-lived and upon his death he quickly faded into the sands of Egypt. Once forgotten, King Tut now remains one of Egypt’s grandest icons. The tomb of Tutankhamen is better than any other pharaoh, because of all the royal tombs, it was found mostly intact. 

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Cape Greco lighthouse, built in 1892.

The card was sent from Cyprus, still a great card! thx Steve.

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Kourion Archaeological Site, Cyprus

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Cyprus, the third largest island of the Mediterranean, and standing on the border of the Eastern and Western worlds has always captured the interests and attentions of more powerful outside forces. Over the centuries, the island has been ruled by the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Byzantines from the ancient world.

Kourion is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites on the island. Noted particularly for its magnificent Greco - Roman Theatre, Kourion is also proud home to stately villas with exquisite mosaic floors and an early Christian Basilica among other treasures.

           

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2012 issue about London Olympics.

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Stavrovouni Monastery from Larnaca, Cyprus

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Stavrovouni is a hill in Cyprus, on top of which stands a Greek Orthodox Monastery. The monastery was constructed on the peak of the mountain of the same name in the District of Larnaca. Stavrovouni , as the name already says , is dedicated to the Holy Cross ; it can be derived from two words 'stavros '(cross) and 'vouno' (mountain).

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From a set of four stamps about London olympics 2012.

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Mosque of Hala Saltan Tekke, Cyprus

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Islam was introduced to Cyprus when Uthman the 3rd Caliph conquered in 649. Muslims lived over the whole area of Cyprus but since the1974 events they are now concentrated in Northern Cyprus. Until 1974, Turkish Cypriots (the Muslim community of Cyprus) made up 18% of the whole islands population. Today there are an estimated 264,172 Muslims based in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus.

The Hala Sultan (Umm Haram) Tekke stands next to the salt lake just south of Larnaca and is one of the first sights you see heading out of the airport.

 

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From a set of 3 stamps about Tall Ships, Galleon (issued 2011).

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A postcard in the shape of Cyprus

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Stavrovouni Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery which stands on the top of a hill called Stavrovouni. It is the earliest documented monastery on the island. Stavrovouni means Mountain of the Cross.

 

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From a set of four stamps about 2012 London Olympics.

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Archbishop Makarios III monument, Cyprus

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Makarios III, original name Mikhail Khristodolou Mouskos (1913 – 1977), archbishop and primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. He was a leader in the struggle for enosis (union) with Greece during the postwar British occupation, and, from 1959 until his death in 1977, he was the president of independent Cyprus.

Makarios III died unexpectedly, of a heart attack, on August 3, 1977. He is buried in a tomb on the mountain of Throni, a site he personally chose. The tomb is near Kykkos Monastery, where he served as a novice in the 1920s and 1930s.

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From a set of 3 stamps about Tall Ships, Galleon (issued 2011).

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Cyprus: The absurdity of war...

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“Captain Jones, UN officer, stands at observation post Charlie Sierra 45 in Nicosia. The white line that demarcates no-man’s-land, goes through the building, which was once an inhabited house. On the left of the line lies one side of the divided island; to the right the other.“

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The Church of St. Pareskevi, Pafos, Cyprus

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The church of St. Paraskevi, built in the form of a basilica with five cupolas placed in the shape of a cross, is one of the most important churches in Cyprus. The church of St. Paraskevi was built in the 9th century A.D. and is preserved almost intact in its initial form apart from the western wall which was demolished in the 19th century in order to build an extension. Its uniqueness lies in the frescos, some of which date back to the 9th century A.D. and are of the oldest in the whole of Cyprus.

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From a set of 8 stamps, Cyprus through the Ages - Pygmy hippopotamus

Thx Steve!

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Cyprus. Paphos. The Lighthouse & Roman Theatre

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Located in Paphos Archaeological Park, Odeon is an amphitheatre-like structure, which was unearthed during excavations.

This archaeological monument built in the 2nd century is made entirely out of well-hewn limestone and has approximately 1,200 seats for spectators. Odeon is not only a tourist attraction today; it also hosts many musical and theatrical performances.

Paphos lighthouse is a golden point of the city as it can be seen from any corner of Paphos. It is situated in close proximity of Odeon.

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A matching stamp: Pafos Lighthouse.

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A Postcard from Cyprus: Old Kakopetria

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Kakopetria is a village in Cyprus located 55 kilometers southwest of the capital, Nicosia, on the north facing foothills of the Troodos Mountains. Kakopetria means 'wicked rock pile' in Greek.

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From a set of four stamps (2009): a rooster.

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Church of St Nicholas in Kakopetria, Cyprus

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In the central part of Cyprus, in the mountains of the Troodos range, some of the most important monuments of the history of Byzantine painting have survived. These are the painted churches which have to this day preserved brilliant examples of various trends of Byzantine and post-Byzantine monumental art, from the 11th to the 19th century.

The church of Ayios Nikolaos tis Stegis is situated in a central area of the Troodos mountain range, about two kilometers southwest of the village of Kakopetria. Agios Nikolaos tis Stegis is the only surviving katholicon (monastery church) of an 11th century Byzantine monastery in Cyprus. The church itself is dated to the 11th century. In 1985 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List which includes nine other painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos range.

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From a set of two ATM labels (2010) with topic moufflon. The Cyprus moufflon is a kind of wild sheep and is found only in Cyprus.

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