Author: cconstantinou

The Classic Motorcycle Museum was created by motorcycle collector Andreas Nicolaou, and is the culmination of a 20-year labour of love. Today, the collection comprises more than 150 pieces, with motorcycles dated between 1914 – 1983, including AJS, MV Agusta, Matchless, Norton, BSA, Triumph, Ariel, BMW, James, Moto Guzzi, Royal Enfield and many more.

The museum also houses three police bikes that formed part of Archbishop Makarios III’s police escort, a motorcycle belonging to EOKA fighter Stylianos Lenas, and one belonging to the island’s first motorcycle champion – Turkish Cypriot Zeki Isa – along with a photography exhibition.

The State Gallery of Contemporary Art is housed in a beautiful restored building with collections that consist of paintings and sculptures by 20th century Cypriot artists.

The early industrial workshop of Agia Varvara combines a traditional house with the place of work to form an interesting museum that showcases daily life on the island in years past.

The workshop uses the primitive equipment of the 1920s; flour mill, crushed wheat mill, barley mill and oil mill, which all worked with a single engine that distributed motion to the machines according to the owner’s needs through a combination of transmission shafts, wheels and belts. A wine press and loom were also used by the owner’s wife.

The Museum on the History of Cypriot Coinage was founded in 1995 and traces the development of the island’s coinage from the first coins minted during the 6th century BC to modern times.

A collection of over 500 coins charts 2.600 years of turbulent Cypriot history and is divided into nine time periods (23 showcases), that offer an important source of information on Cyprus’ numismatic history.

The presentation begins with coinage from the Cyprus City Kingdoms (6th – 4th centuries BC) and ends with the Republic of Cyprus (1960). Included in the initial collection is a bronze coin from the Roman period that bears the legend ‘ΚΟΙΝΟ(Ν) ΚΥΠΡΙΩΝ’ (League of the Cypriots) and was a symbol of unity among the peoples of the island. There is also a touch screen presentation of the island’s historical journey of coins throughout different times.

The museum is linked to the Aphrodite Cultural Route.

Donated by Clio and Solon Triantafyllides, the museum presents one of the most important private collections of Greek Mycenaean pottery on the island, including a unique anthropomorphic vessel, as well as the white slip and base ring style -two typical forms of pottery from the Late Bronze Age in Cyprus that made the island’s pottery famous the world over.

The richest part of the collection consists of limestone sculptures from the 6th century to the Hellenistic period, whilst the museum also showcases clay figurines, coins, jewellery and copper pieces amongst its hundreds of exhibits.

Thanks to the SPYRA Innovative Digital Archaeological Explorer, visitors can see a simulation of pieces they choose by inserting (imitation) fragments into the base of the machine, which then displays an image of how the exhibit would have looked, along with its relevant information.

The museum is also linked with the Aphrodite Cultural Route.

Housed on the ground floor of the Old Archbishopric, the Ethnographic Museum of Cyprus consists of a large collection of 19th and early 20th century Cypriot folk art. The exhibits include a variety of wood-carved objects, tapestry, embroidery, pottery, Cypriot folk costumes and material hand-woven on the loom.

The building of the museum dates back to the 15th century and is of Gothic style architecture with later additions. In the beginning of the 13th century, the area was French (Latin) and the building was used as a monastery by the order of the Benedictines. The Order of St. John-Hospitaliers built a church in honour of St. John, their patron saint, and Hugo 1st was buried here in 1218. The Greek Orthodox Church began using the building sometime before the Ottoman Rule (1571-1878). The richly decorated Gothic arch with the 16th century fresco of the Annunciation, which bears the end of a Greek inscription, was uncovered in 1950.

Located within the walled city of Lefkosia (Nicosia), the Cyprus Postal Museum is housed on the ground floor of an old two-storey mansion. It was founded in 1981 to exhibit the rich and diverse material of the island’s postal history, which started from the 15th century, when postal communications to-and-from Cyprus were organised for the first time during the Venetian period.

The halls of the museum exhibit postage stamps and rich philatelic material in chronological order, including material from the period of British Rule. In particular, the oldest series of Cypriot stamps with the portrait of Queen Victoria of England, which are overprinted with the word ‘Cyprus’, as well as the first dedicated Cypriot series of 1928 that depicts historic sites and figures related to the island’s long history.

Other exhibits include ‘first day of issue’ envelopes and stamps issued since the proclamation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 until today, and that showcase the island’s historical dates, great figures, culture, touristic sights, monuments and overall contribution to civilization. Methods of insuring post is also displayed, from sealing-wax to machinery, along with weighing scales and other philatelic books and magazines.

The museum was originally founded in 1933 during British colonial times as a Criminal Museum by the British Chief of Police of the colonial government.

A substantial part of the museum is dedicated to the history of the Cyprus Police Force, from the British period up to the present day. Visitors can see uniforms, arms, equipment and police vehicles, as well as musical instruments, photographs and documents of the Police Band. The Museum also houses objects and documents from the Second World War and the 1955-1959 National Liberation Struggle.

Located within the grounds of the Carlsberg Brewery, the museum is the largest natural history exhibition of its kind on the island and was founded by ‘The Photos Photiades Charity, Scientific and Cultural Foundation’. Amongst its 2.500 or so exhibits are: embalmed mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects, along with rocks, minerals, semi precious stones, shells and fossils.

The Cyprus Handicraft Centre is an outlet for producing and selling traditional folk art and crafts. Visitors can see the artisans engaged in the traditional crafts at the workshops, such as embroidery and lace making, tapestry, weaving, basketry, woodcarving, pottery, metalwork (copperware and silver), leather and garment making.

An exhibition displays the various handicrafts, along with other items such as ceramic tiles and ancient figures, whilst a wide range of the authentic Cypriot handmade goods can also be purchased at the shop.