Interesting Information About Cyprus:
- According to ancient Greek Mythology Cyprus is the birth place of the goddesses
of love and beauty, Aphrodite.
- William Shakespeare's play Othello has Cyprus and Venice as its settings. The play
starts when Turkey (Ottoman Empire) threatens Cyprus and the Senate of Venice charges
Othello to defend Cyprus and to become the new governor. Othello was a highly esteemed
general in the service of Venice. Click here to learn more about the play.
- The mineral copper was named for the island of Cyprus, being a corruption of the name, for Cyprus
means copper (The copper mineral took its name from the Greek word "kyprios", of Cyprus, the location
of ancient copper mines; Latin "cuprum") From the beginning of mining there, about 4000 BCE, Cyprus
furnished copper from its rich mines to the ancient Mediterranean world. The Old Testament name
"Isles of Chittim" refers to Cyprus and to the people who inhabited the island. Long before Rome
held sway, copper ore and cast ingots were exported from the island Mavrovouni mine, near Lefka,
held veins which were first mined about 3000 years ago. By the middle of that century Hiram II, King
of Tyre, had a representative at Citium, and Phoenician merchant communities were soon established
in other cities also, most notably at Tamassus, with its copper mines.
What to learn more just Google (history, copper, Cyprus).
- Perhaps the single outstanding event that occurred under the Roman control of Cyprus was during
the reign of Claudius. In 45 AD, the great Christian authority, Paul, arrived on the island to
practice and spread the faith. He and along with the apostle Barnabas, were highly influential in setting
a Christian foundation on the island (Cyprus) and even succeeded in a Christian 'first'. The Roman
proconsul, Sergius Paulus, was apparently converted and has become recognized by scholars as the first
Roman of noble birth to do so. By virtue of his position, he also must've been the first Christian
governor of a Roman province (probably of the whole world). To learn more click here.
- As of 1974 Cyprus's capital, Nicosia, is a divided city due to the Turkish invasion and occupation.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 Nicosia became the only divided capital of Europe.
- As of 2004 Cyprus is one of the 25 countries members of the European Union (EU).
My all time favorite poem by Evagoras Pallikaridis (in Greek).
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