Photos of the Eastern Karpas Peninsula, Cyprus

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The Eastern Karpas Peninsula

The Karpas Peninsula, in Greek Karpasía (Καρπασία) and Karpaz in Turkish, is the long stretch of land, stretching out to the north-easternmost point of Cyprus, Cape Apostolos Andreas, named for its monastery near the tip. That cape is now known in Turkish as Zafer Burnu, Cape of Victory.

Panagia Kanakaria church, Boltaşlı
 
Panagia Kanakaria church, Boltaşlı
 
Fresco, Panagia Kanakaria church
 
Interior, Panagia Kanakaria church
 
Ex-policeman, Boltaşlı (Lythrangomi)
 
Church of Yeşilköy (Agios Andronikos)
 
Statue, Yeşilköy (Agios Andronikos)
 
Basilica of Agia Triada
 
Mosaic floor, Basilica of Agia Triada
 
Basilica of Agia Triada
 
Mosaic floor, Basilica of Agia Triada
 
Mosaic floor, Basilica of Agia Triada
 
Agios Thyrsos Orthodox church
 
Interior of Agios Thyrsos
 
Agios Thyrsos Orthodox church
 
Chapel of Agios Thyrsos church
 
Chapel of Agios Thyrsos church
 
In the Chapel of Agios Thyrsos church
 
In the Chapel of Agios Thyrsos church
 
Atatürk bust, Kaleburnu (Galinoporni)
 
View, Kaleburnu (Galinoporni)
 
View of Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso)
 
Statue, Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso)
 
Shops in Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso)
 
Church and mosque, Dipkarpaz
 
South coast of the Karpas Peninsula
 
Big Sand Beach Bungalows
 
Big Sand Beach, Karpas Peninsula
 
Apostolos Andreas Monastery
 
Apostolos Andreas Monastery church
 
Donkeys, Karpas Peninsula
 
Sea Bird Motel, Karpas Peninsula
 
At Cape of Victory (Apostolos Andreas)
 
Karpas Peninsula north coast
 
Beşparmak Trail end, Cape of Victory
 
View, Cape of Victory (Apostolos Andreas)
 

The Apostolos Andreas Monastery was, until 1974, well supported by its devotees and pilgrims, but since the Turkish invasion, it was left with only a few Greek Cypriot caretakers. The great monastery began a slow and steady deterioration, but restoration started in 2013, now funded by the Church of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot EVKA religious foundation.

The peninsula used to have a predominantly Greek-Cypriot population, but most fled to the south after the Turkish invasion of 1974. The town of Dipkarpaz, or, in Greek, Rizokárpaso (Ριζοκάρπασο) was cut off, preventing the town’s Greek-Cypriot inhabitants from fleeing to the south. As a result, Rizokarpaso is the home of the largest Greek population in the north, with 250 Greek-Cypriot, mainly elderly, inhabitants.

In the village of Boltaşlı (Lythrangomi) is the church of Panagia Kanakaria, looking well preserved on the outside. However, it was looted inside: mosaics in the apse were stolen from the church after 1975. Some were sold on art markets in the USA. After a protracted legal battle, ownership of the mosaics was recognised, and they were returned to Cyprus. They are currently on display in the Byzantine Museum, Nicosia. The church of Agios Thyrsos and its chapel, on the north coast, was also plundered, with its cemetery destroyed.

Near the village of Sipahi or Agia Trias are the ruins of the 5th-century Basilica of Agia Triada with its well preserved intricately patterned mosaic floor. The building itself was destroyed in Arab raids in the mid-7th century CE, but the outline and the mosaics have managed to withstand the ravages of time.