Nicosia (North) Museums

The divided capital of Cyprus lies in the Mesaoria, the central plain. To the North the rugged Kyrenia Mountains and to the south the Troodos Mountains make a spectacular backdrop. The city has a very long history and therefore there are many interesting museums to visit.

Lapidari (Stone-work) Museum
This is a museum of stone fragments taken from the demolition of ancient buildings.

Dervish Pasha Mansion: Ethnographical Museum
The konak of Ahmed Dervish Pasha, a traditional Nicosia mansion, is on Belig Pasha Street which is off Salahi Shevket Street. It houses the island’s richest collection of Ottoman artifacts. It is one of the hidden treasures of the city.

Mevlevi (Whirling-Dervishes) Tekke Museum
A Tekke is a religious lodging house. This was home to the Mevlevi Order founded by the poet Jela - ed - din Roumi Mevlana in the thirteenth century. There is a long room containing the tombs of various Dervis. This seventeenth century building is now used as a museum.

Museum of Barbarism
This is the house of Dr. Nihat Ilhan, a major who was serving in the Cyprus Turkish Contingent in 1963. During the inter-communal troubles of December that year, the house was attacked by the Greek-Cypriot terrorists. Dr. Ilhan’s wife and three children were ruthlessly murdered in the bathroom where they had tried to hide. The house, in the Kumsal district of Nicosia has been preserved as a museum.

Library of Sultan Mahmud II
It was built by Sultan Mahmud II in the early years of the last century and its style of architecture is that of Islam.

Nicosia (South) Museums

There are several interesting and award-wining museums to visit in South Nicosia including Kykkos Monastery Museum and the Kostas Argyrou Museum.

The Archaeological Museum of Nicosia
The museum belongs to ones that should not be omitted by tourists when visiting Cyprus. Built in 1908, it is located at Museum Street, and covers 9, 500-year civilization. Room 1 shows the exhibits from the Neolithic period (7500-3900 B.C.), predominantly stone implements from Choirokoitia.

The Byzantine Museum of the Makarios III Foundation
About 150 portable icons of varied colors, shapes and techniques are included in the museum. The museum is named “Byzantine”, as Byzantine technique prevails, although there are visible traces of the various invaders and the Crusaders in some paintings.

Folk Art Museum
The museum is located in the old Archbishopric and is included in the Society of Cypriot Studies which was established in 1937. The resourcefulness of the Cypriot artisan, intellectual life and the aesthetic esteem are all to be perceived when admiring the exhibits in the museum.

The National Struggle Museum
One year after the independence of Cyprus, the National Struggle Museum was founded by the then Greek Communal Chamber of Cyprus. Housed in the old Archbishopric, the preservation of the remembrance of the struggle for the liberation represents the basic aim of the museum.

Leventis Municipal Museum
Within the walls of the capital and in the close distance to the commercial sector of Nicosia, one will find the museum at Ippokratous Street which serves since 1989. The two-storeyed building of 19th century has been bought, restored and modified to the Museum and shows the history of the capital for centuries.

Cyprus Jewellers Museum
Goldsmithing and silversmithing represent the branch of the trade, that has its roots in the ancient times, as proved in the archaeological excavations.

The Art Gallery of Makarios III Foundation
Lies at the eastern edge of the impressive Archbishopric and bears the full name the Art Gallery of the Cultural Center of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation. The inauguration of the Cultural Center, which took place on January 18, 1982, paved way to the opening of the Gallery to the public. The visitors can observe 116 European oil paintings, dating from the 16th to the 19th century, predominantly represented by the icons from religion and mythology, and are all housed on the 1st floor. One can compare features of various European schools among which French, Italian, Spanish, Flemish, German, and others. The second floor boasts of about 80 oil paintings by European artists, in which the visible traces of Greek history and especially the Greek Revolution of 1821 are evident.

The State Gallery
Founded in 1990 and housed in a neoclassical building of Nicosia at the corner of Stasinos Avenue and Crete Street, is located the State Gallery. At present it holds approximately 123 paintings and sculptures by more than 70 Cypriot artists. The masterpieces displayed in the gallery make an imposing picture via dominant artistic works of the first decades of the twentieth century up to these days.

The Nicosia Municipal Arts Center
Housed in 19 Apostolou Varnava Street, in the building of the old Power Station of Nicosia, closely cooperating with the Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, The Nicosia Municipal Arts Center can be found. It comprises of the Large Exhibition Hall, the Library of the History of Art, the Restaurant- coffee shop and the Center’s shop.

Kyrenia Museums

Founded probably in the 10th century BC by early settlers, Kyrenia became one of the major city kingdoms.Kyrenia houses the Shipwreck Museum which has the oldest ship ever found at sea.

Shipwreck Museum
There is an exhibition of photographs from the recovery expedition on display and a cross section reconstruction of what the original ship would have looked like. Estimated to have sunk circa 300BC and already eighty years old, the recovered hull in the shipwreck museum is, to date, the oldest ship ever to be recovered from the seabed.

Folk Art Museum
The main entrance to the Folk Art Museum is from the promenade in the old harbour. Formally a granary, it was donated to the antiquities Department by Lady Loch. It is a reconstruction of a typical Cypriot house displaying a variety of needlework and bridal costumes. On the ground floor there is an olive press and a threshing board.

Decorative Arts Museum
Situated on the western edge of Kyrenia. It houses a collection of paintings, embroideries and porcelain.

Guzelyurt Museums

In Guzelyurt you can visit the Museum of Archeology and Natural Sciences and St Mamas Church and Icon Museum.

Museum of Archeology and Natural Sciences
The Archaeological Museum is laid out chronologically in a series of rooms. All the artifacts are labeled and dated starting in Room 1, with findings from the early Stone Age.

St Mamas Church and Icon Museum
The late eighteenth century church of St Mammas is without question the most beautiful and the best maintained of the Orthodox churches that are preserved and opened to the public as Icon Museums.

Larnaca Museums

The Pierides Foundation Museum and Larnaca District Mediaeval Museum are highly recommended places of interest.

Larnaca District Mediaeval Museum
Built in 1625, it was used as a prison in the first years of British rule. It now houses the District Mediaeval Museum. The Fort is also used as the Larnaca Municipal Cultural Centre during the summer.
Telephone: 24304576
Address: (Larnaca Fort), Agkyras, 6026 Larnaca

The Pierides Foundation Museum
The oldest privately owned museum in Cyprus, set up by Dimitrios Pierides (1811-1895). It houses ancient, medieval, Byzantine and more recent objects belonging to the Pierides family. A display case of modern Greek and Cypriot sculptures can be seen in the courtyard.
Telephone: (04) 652495
Address: 4 Zinonos Kitieos Street

Limassol Museums

There is the Old Port Sea Sponges Exhibition Center in Limassol and you can also visit the Museum Of Olive Oil and Pilavakion Mousion.

Museum Of Olive Oil
The House of the Olive is set high on a hill just outside the village of Anogyra, for which you turn off at the signpost from the motorway onto the Pachna road, about half way between Limassol and Paphos. It offers visitors the chance to learn more about the history of olive oil making, to purchase high grade extra virgin oil, or browse among the many olive-related products on sale in the gift shop, after which you can sit down in the tiny café area and watch (when in season) locals bringing in their just-picked olives to tip into one end of the pressing process.
Telephone: 99565768
Address: The House Of The Olive - Oleastro Limassol

Old Port Sea Sponges Excibition Center
A small exhibition center in the old port area of Limassol, with a collection of sea sponges. Some are available to buy.
Telephone: 25359933
Address: Agias Theklis 3 3042 Limassol

Pilavakion Mousion
A privately run museum housing a collection of pottery.
Telephone: 25421508
Address: Foini

Agia Napa Museums

Marine Life Museum is located in Agia Napa’s Town Hall.

Marine Life Museum
Marine Life Museum is located in Agia Napa’s Town Hall. It is the first natural museum of its kind in Cyprus and it exhibits past and present marine life and promotes the study and research of marine life while also emphasizing the importance of preserving the marine environment.
Telephone: 23723409
Address: 25 Agias Mavris Ave, Agia Napa