Category: Discover Cyprus

Located in the rural village of Tochni, the ecclesiastical museum is part of the historic Church of The Saints Constantine and Helen.

The museum room – which adjoins the church – features a range of precious religious relics, including Gospels, icons (dating as far back as the 16th century), and silver and bronze sacred vessels. Also featured is a grand cross, which is displayed in the centre of the museum room.

Most importantly, the museum contains a small piece of the Holy Cross, and a small piece of the relic of Saint Helen, which are of insurmountable religious value.

The church itself is uniquely located on a bridge in the village, and a historically significant structure. Both the bridge and the church are said to have been built by Saint Helen.

As part of the Larnaka Virtual Museums project, you can tour the museum virtually here, with enriched and bonus material from home, or whilst at the museum for a hybrid experience. 
 

The exhibition consists of the majority of stone and wood sculptures by Costas Argyrou, as well as mosaics and his paintings. Argyrou is the first Cypriot recognized naive sculptor. His artistic career lasted until his death in 2001. He held solo exhibitions and took part in various group shows in Cyprus and abroad.

On the eastern side of the museum’s main building is the Gallery, with its mosaic religious images and the cenotaphs of Argyrou and his wife. On the outside,the Gallery resembles a church, since initially it was intended for this purpose. For further information please visit: https://costasargyroumuseum.org/
 

The museum is also part of the Larnaka Virtual Museums platform and can be explored virtually with enriched content below or in full screen here.

Housed in a traditional residence in the mountainous village of Kato Drys, the Local Rural Museum, Kato Drys was once the home of Gabriel and Eleni Papachristoforou, and was donated to the Department of Antiquities after their passing with the provision that it would serve as a local museum of olden-day village life.

The house is a typical specimen of local architecture from the 19th century and is constructed from stone. It consists of five ground-floor rooms and an upper-level room; an indoor, enclosed yard with a clay oven, and a roofed passage with an arch that leads to the large gateway opening toward the road. Although simple, it was a luxurious home during its time.

Today, the museum depicts a traditional rural household and is laid out with the furniture and equipment of the times, including tools that were used for occupational purposes and household chores.

The museums is also one of the Larnaka Virtual Museums. Explore it below, or in full screen here.
 

The Local Museum of Traditional Embroidery and Silversmith-work, Lefkara is located in the mountainous village within the ‘House of Patsalos’, which was named after its owner – a member of one of the village’s richest families.

The entire house is constructed out of local white limestone and contains several rooms built during different periods from the 19th to the early 20th century. The ground floor showcases traditional village life within a rural-type dining room and storeroom that display large jars and agricultural implements and tools.

The three rooms of the upper floor contain the typical furnishings of a grand Lefkara house of the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with traditional costumes, jewellery, silverwork, and a large collection of old Lefkara embroidery, for which the village is renowned.

The ‘House of Patsalos’ was acquired by the Department of Antiquities in 1983, thanks to a donation by Mr Stelios Ioannou, and after its restoration was officially opened to the public as a museum in August 1988.

A separate building houses a reconstruction of a blacksmiths ‘smithy’ complete with original tools and authentic sound effects of the blacksmith at work.

As part of the Larnaka Virtual Museums project, you can tour the museum virtually here, with enriched and bonus material from home, or whilst at the museum for a hybrid experience.