Author: Christos

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.

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 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.

The Museum of Christian Art – Christoforou Collection is housed in a renovated old residence, located opposite the Kostas Kaimakliotis Folklore Museum in Aradippou.

The museum exhibits over 300 pieces depicting the Greek Orthodox and various other faiths from around the world from the private collection of retired Cypriot diplomat Charalambos Christoforou.

The museum is divided into five themed exhibits: Greece-Cyprus; Europe; Russia; South America, and Engravings

Included in the collection are works by Salvador Dali and Raphael, and an original engraving by Rembrandt, as well as a painting by the famous Russian artist Evgeni Klemenov ‘The Songs of Mikis Theodorakis’, which depicts the legendary composer directing his orchestra.

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

Livadia village is home to a unique basket weaving folkart using cane and reeds, and the preservation of this significant part of the village’s history has been secured through the Craft of Caning Museum, Livadia, which showcases the art of weaving and was inaugurated in November 2016.

The museum is an initiative by Livadia Municipality to create a space to preserve and share its traditional basketry ‘calamoti’, which is only practiced by a handful of women today, but was once an incredibly important part of the villagers’ everyday life and employment.

In olden days, the women spent whole days of the year paring and splitting reeds in order to make various basketry products, and Livadia is the only place on the island where ‘psatharkes’ (traditionally used for roofing) are still made, with the craft also included on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List.

The museum displays this rich history in a modern and attractive way within a structure itself made with cane, and comprises a large array of baskets, musical instruments, tools and other interesting exhibits and information, including a photographic exhibition.

The bench outside the museum preserves reeds in resin to symbolise the enduring nature of the basket-weaving tradition and is lit up at night. It was made by Youth Makerspace Larnaka and sponsored by Larnaka Tourism Board.

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.
 

Virtual video: https://virtuallarnakaregion.com/LivadiaCaningMuseum/

Experience the immersive 360 Virtual Tour in fullscreen mode – click here!