Cyprus Culture, Weather and History

Renowned for its healthy and pleasant climate Cyprus enjoys dry summers and mild winters. The sun shines for more than 300 days per year. Minimum temperatures in the winter are 6°C to 13°C and warmest temperatures in the summer vary between 21°C to occasionally 40°C. It is the general consensus that the natural beauties of the island, its unspoiled environment and archaeological wealth and the traditional hospitality of its people, make Cyprus an ideal place for holidays, relaxation and retirement.

Today Cyprus is a modern country which effortlessly marries European culture with ancient enchantment.

The Cyprus mystique is as much a product of its legendary beauty as it is of millennia of competing empires, all unable to resist the strategic allure of the island. The perfect location, of course, never goes out of style. But close as Cyprus may be to the world's centre stage, it is a distinctive place that can feel blissfully apart from it all.
Abundant copper in antiquity put small Cyprus on the map. In fact Cyprus (Kypros in Greek) gave copper its Latin name: cuprum. In the late Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greeks settled on Cyprus and established trade links with Egypt and the Aegean islands. This is also the period when ceramic art first flourished. As centuries drifted by, the island came variously under Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Roman rule. It was during the latter era that Marc Antony, enraptured by the island's sweet wines, gave Cyprus as a gift to his lover, the matchless Cleopatra. After a long period of Byzantine domination, European awareness of Cyprus surged with the Crusades. In 1191 a fierce sea storm led Richard the Lionheart to put his ship into port at Lemesos. He claimed the island as his own.
From 1489 to 1571 the flag of Venice flew in Cyprus, until which time the Ottoman Turks moved in. That era ended in 1878 when Cyprus became part of the British Empire. Despite a turbulent past, or perhaps because of it, the Cypriots themselves are a resilient people. They have always remained a distinct culture - different even from their closest cousins, the Greeks - and retained their unique character. The Republic of Cyprus achieved independence in 1960 and is now a member the European Union.
From independent travellers to honeymooners, archaeology aficionados to friends of nature, every visitor to Cyprus finds the island offers layer upon layer of discovery. Food lovers delight in farm-fresh halloumi cheese and delectable meze, the local specialty appetizers that mix Western ingredients with Eastern zest. Add it all up and you have an ideally-situated island that truly has no equal. A place that measures up to its mystique: Cyprus.