There are several legends about St. Mamas. One says, he was a christian saint. After he died, he was buried seaside. The coffin was swept away by tide and made it’s way to the coast of Güzelyurt. A farmer wanted to move the coffin to a more comfortable place, but it was too heavy to move. The farmer went and returned with two oxen and his sons trying to move the coffin. After a while it became impossible to move the coffin any further, so they build the church around the coffin right at this place.
An other legend has, Mamas lived in a cave near Güzelyurt. A byzantine duke demanted taxes from the locals, but Mamas refused to pay, because he lived in a cave. The duke sent two soldiers to arrest Mamas, but on the way back to Lefkosa, the crossed path with a lion, which was about to attack a lamb. While the soldiers were afraid of the lion, Mamas managed to save the lamb from the lion and continued his journey to Lefkosa on the back of the lion, while carrying the lamb. The byzantine authorities were so impressed that they decided to exempt him from taxes for the rest of his life. Since then, St. Mamas is the saint of tax avoiders. As a funny side note… That day we went there, there was a tourist guide friend of us, with a german group. That moment we entered the church, she stopped telling about all the icons and moved on to „the two gentlemen, who just entered. They are Cyprus legends and know every place better than all the travel guides“. She continued telling about us instead of St. Mamas church. Becoming famous in 3… 2… 1…!
Hinter dem Kaya Palazo Hotel in Karaoglanoglu findet sich die St. Fanourios Kapelle. Über ein paar Stufen erreicht man die in den Fels gehauene Kapelle St. George. Neben den Stufen findet man die versteinerten Knochen von Zwergnilpferden.
The St. Fanourios chapel can be found behind the Kaya Palazo Hotel in Karaoglanoglu. Few steps leading down to the rock-cut chapel St. George. Next to the steps the petrified bones of dwarf hippos can be found.
Liebevoll gestaltete Miniaturen der Sehenswürdigkeiten Nordzyperns findet man in Minia Kibris in bei Tatlisu, direkt an der Nordküstenstrasse. Des weiteren befindet sich dort die aufwendig restaurierte Panagia Pergaminiotissa Kirche aus dem 11. Jahrhundert. Die Kirche wurde auf dem Fundament einer noch älteren Kirche erbaut und beinhaltet ein kleines Museum, sowie Fresken aus dem 11. und 12. Jahrhundert.
Affectionate designed miniatures of some sights of North Cyprus can be found in Minia Kibris near Tatlisu, next to the north coast road. Also you can visit the elaborate rebuild church Panagia Pergaminiotissa from the 11th century. The church has been build on the foundation of an even older church and contains nowadays a small museum and frescoes from 11th and 12th century.
Die Pigadhes Kultstätte liegt direkt an der Strasse Nicosia-Camlibel, zwischen den beiden Ausfahrten nach Hizarköy. Die Stätte ist bis heute weitestgehend unerforscht und es ist nur wenig darüber bekannt. Die sichtbaren Mauern werden auf ca. 1500 vor Christus geschätzt. Es scheint ausserdem, dass die sichtbaren Mauern auf einer deutlich älteren Stätte errichtet wurden. Ausgrabungen ergaben, dass der Ort eine Siedlung, sowie eine Kultstätte bzw. Heiligtum waren. Das bedeutendste Gebilde ist ein nachgebildeter Altar im Stil der damaligen Zeit in mitten des Innenhofes. Es wird angenommen, dass dort Opfer für die Götter erbracht wurden.
The Pigadhes sanctuary is located next to Lefkosa-Camlibel road between the two exits to Hizarköy. The site is still mostly unexcavated and not much is known yet. The visible walls are dated back to around 1500 BC. It seems, that nowadays visible walls are built on an even older site. Excavations indicated that the site was a settlement as well as a sanctuary. Most significant structure is a rebuild altar in the middle of the courtyard in the style of the time. It is thought that sacrifices were offered there to the gods.
Es ist nicht viel bekannt über das Panagia Kriniotissa Kloster. Es wurde im 12. Jahrhundert erbaut und wurde in den 1730er Jahren verlassen. Es liegt gut versteckt in den Bergen über Karsiyaka und der ganze Ort hat etwas magisches und erscheint wie aus einem Märchen. Leider waren wir an dem Tag, an dem wir die Photos machten in Eile und die Wetterbedingungen waren schlecht für gute Bilder. Wir konnten die Atmosphäre dieses Ortes nicht einmal annähernd einfangen.
Not much is known about the Panagia Kriniotissa monastery. It was build in the 12th century and has been abandoned in the 1730s. It’s well hidden in the mountains above Karsiyaka and the place seem to be something magical straight out of a otherworldly fairytale. Sadly we were in hurry that day we took the photos and the weather conditions weren’t good for photos. We couldn’t even nearly catch the atmosphere of this place.
Nachdem wir seit langem bereits auf Facebook und Instagram vertreten sind, sind wir seit einiger Zeit auch auf VK.com und jetzt, ganz neu, auch auf MeWe!
Since we can be found since years on Facebook and Instagram, we joined a while ago also VK.com and now we are on MeWe!
Did you know? Right in the village center of Iskele, Agios Iakovos, a little byzantine church can be found. The more common name is St. James. It dates from the 14th or 15th century. When Queen Mary of Romania visited Cyprus, she felt so in love with that church, that she had built a replica at her black sea summer residence in Balchik in 1930. Nowadays the Tourist Office of Iskele is located in this church.
