The cats of Kyrenia

The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) does not exist. That is, it is not recognised by any country other than Turkey. This has several consequences, the first of which was that we couldn't fly direct to Ercan airport when we visited in 1999. Our flight had to touch down in Antalya en route. 

The second consequence is the game played at passport control, where nervous travellers who aim to visit Greece at some future date try to avoid the TRNC stamp in their passport.  According to the brochures, the immigration officers will stamp a separate slip of paper for you, with no problems.  According to the Bradt guide to North Cyprus, this is unnecessary, as there is no difficulty in getting into Greece with a TRNC stamp - the Greek immigration officers will simply cross it out for you.  Since we had a trip to Greece already booked for September, I was not sure that I wanted to risk it, so asked for a stamp on a separate slip.  “Why do you not want our stamp in your passport?” enquired the immigration officer.  Somewhat jaded after the flight, including a fairly hot and stuffy sixty minutes on the tarmac at Antalya, I knew that ‘so I can go to Greece later on’ was probably not the most tactful response, but was I totally incapable of thinking of another one. We were later told that British citizens do not need a stamp at all, that the immigration officers do not want to stamp the passports and that they are hoping that visitors will say that it is not necessary.

Having arrived, the place seems disturbingly familiar. Kyrenia harbour is a typical example of the Venetian-type harbour which can be found on other Mediterranean islands, notably Crete and Rhodes.  Except, that is, for the British postbox, which a coat of yellow paint cannot disguise. There are several of these relics of the British occupation in Kyrenia town.

Kyrenia harbour is guarded by a castle which originated as a Byzantine fort, but was subsequently remodelled by Crusaders and then by Venetians.  It is exceptionally well-preserved as the Venetian garrison surrendered to the Ottoman Turks without a shot being fired.  One of the towers houses dummies representing the different soldiers who would have been stationed at the castle, from Byzantine right up to British army.  The costumes however lack a certain degree of authenticity: the British soldier sports a distinctly non-regulation haircut, while Richard the Lionheart’s army were apparently clad in woolly jumpers. The castle also houses a Shipwreck Museum, which displays the remains of a 2,300 year old Greek ship and its cargo, recovered from the sea bed in the 1960s.  The sailors apparently lived on almonds: thousands of them were recovered from the wreck.

Kyrenia Harbour

The harbour area houses a number of restaurants, many of them specialising in fish. Eating here is good value, though we were told that much of the fish is not locally caught but imported from Turkey.  Local fish stocks have allegedly been depleted as a result of the use of dynamite by Syrian fishermen.  Eating out in the harbour area is not for the faint-hearted, or those with a cat allergy. The area is patrolled by feline vermin controllers, who would much prefer to try your fish, and will sit there, gazing soulfully at your sole.  They will even take to the water (well, the moored boats) in order to ensure that you are surrounded.

The shops in Kyrenia are a little odd.  There are of course the usual souvenir shops, although perhaps not quite as many as one might expect.  But aside from these three types of shop seemed to dominate: selling silk flowers, lingerie or curious mixture of imported china and glassware (from Murano glass to Royal Albert Country Roses china) and plastic dolls.

 Efforts are clearly being made to attract tourists, one of the few sources of hard currency which are available to TRNC.  Work was underway to upgrade the facilities, by building nice neat pavements, for example.  One of the side-effects of the pavement works was literally the perfect tourist trap.  Where the new pavements had been finished, the manhole covers (nice solid paving slabs) had not been put into place, but left beside the holes.  The unwary could therefore trip over the slab and fall headlong down the hole.  Coupled with an absence of street lighting, this made for adventurous walks back to the hotel after dinner.

 The other source of hard currency for the TRNC is from expatriate Turkish Cypriots.  There are far more Turkish Cypriots living abroad than in TRNC, but many of them invest in hotel or other developments in TRNC, or return build themselves second homes.  Once particularly palatial mansion we saw belonged to a pizza magnate from Muswell Hill.  Our guide for a tour of the Karpas was a former London bus driver, who regretted not going into the pizza business instead.



Bellapais

A short distance from Kyrenia is the village of Bellapais. A ruined abbey commands a wonderful view down to Kyrenia.  It was in Bellapais that Lawrence Durrell lived for a time, as described in his book Bitter Lemons.  In the village is the ‘Tree of Idleness’, so-called because anyone who sits beneath it is struck by indolence. Fortunately, a neighbouring cafe has adopted the name, and since it has its own tree, many passing tourists are saved from a life of indolence by the fact that they are sitting under the wrong tree.

Whilst Kyrenia and its surrounding area are pleasant, if quiet, resorts, Famagusta, with its stretch of long-abandoned hotels by the Greek border, is rather depressing.  The old town area is eerily quiet. Attractions include two ruined churches, St George of the Latins and St George of the Greeks, destroyed by the Ottoman Turks in 1571, the former cathedral of St Nicholas, now a mosque, and Othello’s Tower, the fort guarding the harbour.

A further consequence of the non-recognition of the TRNC has been the absence of foreign funding for archaeological work. Sites which were partially excavated earlier this century have been virtually abandoned since 1976, as there has been no money to fund teams of international archaeologists. There has been no further excavation, and very little preservation.  At Soli, a beautiful Roman mosaic floor uncovered in the 1960s is fading under the sunlight.  The problem is now being addressed and work has now started on a roof to protect the mosaics from further damage. However, the work is being undertaken by local workmen with no particular expertise in archaeological conservation. Digging deep holes to support the roof can be tricky in an archaeological site, and several holes have had to be abandoned because of the archaeological remains which were found in them.  Throughout TRNC, attempts are now being made to raise funds for preservation through making a more realistic admission charges.

Soli

The TRNC is a botanist’s paradise.  In spring the historic sites are covered with wildflowers, and the comparatively few visitors can enjoy them without all the crowds and tacky gift shops which are found elsewhere.  However, the locals’ idea of preservation does occasionally run to wreaking havoc with a strimmer, which is what had happened to the courtyard of Othello’s Tower shortly before we arrived, much to the disgust of our guide. Salamis, on the other hand, was a mass of yellow chrysanthemums, giant fennel, henbane, oxalis and assorted other flowers. 

Salamis

The ancient town of Salamis was devoted to pleasure, and the gymnasium had facilities similar to those at a modern health spa with various hot rooms, cold rooms and pools. One facility which might not be so popular today is the 44-seater open-plan latrine.  Another interesting site is Vouni, a Persian palace perched on a hilltop overlooking Soli.  This is worth a visit simply for the view, although the drive up is not for the faint hearted.

A number of the former Greek Orthodox churches and their contents have been preserved as ‘Icon Museums’. There is one in Kyrenia itself and we visited three or four others, including that at St Barnabas’ monastery near Salamis and the church of Ayias Mamas in Güzelyurt.  The icons are not all of any great age or artistic merit, but some tell interesting stories.  Ayias Mamas is particularly notable for being the patron saint of ear, nose and throat infections and of tax evaders.  This church is worth seeing not only for the icons, but also the elaborate chandeliers, which cannot all be lit simultaneously without blowing a fuse.

The TRNC also incorporates the Karpas peninsula, the ‘pan-handle’ of Cyprus.  This is a very remote and rural area, and the only place in TRNC where a community of Greek Cypriots remains.  At the extreme tip, wild donkeys roam freely.

All in all, the TRNC is wonderfully unspoilt. Holiday complexes are springing up, particularly in the area around Kyrenia, but these are all low rise and relatively unobtrusive. Whilst I sympathise with the need for hard currency, the selfish part of me hopes it will stay that way.