Images from three weeks in Cyprus, based in Limassol, touring the southern Republic of Cyprus in a rent-a-car. Our interests were mainly in the ancient ruins from
the classical Greek and Roman periods, and the wonderful painted Byzantine churches, rather than the “sun,sea and sangria” favoured by the younger generation!
(Oh, and boats! I like photographing boats. And I did photograph quite a bit of sea, too, along the way!) Sadly, many of the Byzantine churches were closed. Shame.

Cyprus has a long and chequered history, dating back to the Neolithic Age, and has been conquered by or come under the rule of the Mycenaeans, the Assyrians,
Alexander the Great and Persia, Ptolemaic Egypt, the Roman Empire, Byzantium (when the pagan country converted to Christianity), the Arab caliphates,
Richard the Lionheart and the Templars, the Lusignans, the Venetians, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, until finally achieving independence in 1960,
becoming the Republic of Cyprus, with Archbishop Makarios III installed as the first President.
Intercommunal fighting broke out in 1963 between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities, and in 1974 Turkey invaded the north of the island,
culminating in the establishment of a United Nations buffer zone between the two sections, known as the Green Line, separating the Republic of Cyprus
from the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC). The border remains, but became more open in 2003, with a number of crossing points.
The Republic joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro as its currency.