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| Wes Delves into the History of Cyprus |
Like the gospel writer St. Mark and the Apostles Paul and Barnabas, we were going from Israel to Cyprus.
In ancient times, successive civilizations conquered the island nation of Cyprus, with the Assyrians, Egyptians, Ionians, Persians, Athenians, Hellenistics (Alexander the Great), Romans, Christian Byzantines and Muslims successively playing their parts upon the stage, much as they had in Israel.
In 688 AD, there was a Cyprian twist when Byzantine Emperor Justinian made the historic agreement with Muslim Caliph Abd-al Malik to share dominion of the island, each collecting taxes from their own followers for most of the next three centuries
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| Shrine By Agia Paraskevi Church |
The Christian Byzantines re-captured control of Cyprus in 958, but about 280 years later King Isaac Komnenos cut a deal with Sultan Saladin of the Islamic Saracens, who had recently re-captured Jerusalem, to close Cyprian ports to soldiers of the Third Crusade returning to the Holy Lands.
Crusading King Richard the Lionheart of England found this unacceptable, especially because his new fiancee happened to be on a ship that wrecked on Cyprus during a storm, resulting in the imprisonment of the ship's passengers, including Princess Berengaria of Navarre.
When Lionheart arrived from Rhodes in 1191, he quickly conquered the island, liberating and then marrying his new Queen at the castle of the deposed Cypriot monarch.
When Lionheart arrived from Rhodes in 1191, he quickly conquered the island, liberating and then marrying his new Queen at the castle of the deposed Cypriot monarch.
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| Azamara Journey Anchored Off Cyprus |
Our evenings aboard Azamara Journey all included sumptuous meals, usually at a table for two in close enough proximity with other tables to result in casual conversations that quickly turned very warm.
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| Waterfront Cafe in Cyprus |
I do remember that on this particular evening, our final in Israel, we had arranged to meet up for dinner with Joanne and Stan, the couple from Toronto with whom we had quickly bonded, but they turned in early while Julie and I headed over for the evening's headline entertainment.
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| 2nd Century Mosaic Tile at House of Dionysis |
All four featured singers were terrific, the best combination of four I have ever seen on a cruise, but I personally liked the second billed female singer better than the designated star, though both were excellent. The men were similarly talented, with the lead just enough better to earn that position.
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| Agia Paraskevi Church |
The singers all dance, so the biggest difference came down to the size of the chorus line, which on Journey consisted of two Russian dancers, who were dazzling as they led the headliners through their steps.
The young, attractive couple seemed like world class ballroom dancers, though they also mastered ballet and modern jazz dancing, too. In the morning before Cyprus, we took a ballroom dance class with them instructing us, as they had on the one sea day we had on this voyage.
They proved to be quite wonderful teachers, too, providing helpful tips and positive feedback in a way that kept the proceedings fun.
As on every morning aboard the ship, the buffet restaurant opened early serving a wonderful selection of foods including fresh fruits, smoothies, waffles and omelets cooked to order. Cappuccinos, macchiatos and other specialty coffees were included. I always awoke early to enjoy sunrise with coffee, as we cruised toward our next port.
Not arriving in Cyprus until noon allowed for a special jazz brunch buffet in the dining room. There was usually some sort of twist on all the menus, and in this case it was dim sum for brunch, combining terrific Asian cuisine and breakfast foods. I particularly liked the barbecued pork dumplings, which had tasty meatballs inside light, fluffy dough.
Our original plan in Cyprus had been to see it on our own at a leisurely pace, but we changed our mind when Julie won a raffle for a free excursion at the port presentation on our sea day. We try to attend these events when possible not because we expect to win a prize but because there are always some helpful tips as well as interesting information about the ports. We subsequently purchased a ticket for me, so at the appointed time we headed to the theater to meet up with our group and were whisked off the ship to our tour bus. It turned out Stan and Joanne were on the same tour, reaffirming how much a cruise is like a small village where you keep running into the same nice people.
Our first stop was Agia Paraskevi, which our guide referred to as a Crusader church but which actually had also been a Byzantine Church from the 8th or 9th Century.
The small interior includes a great deal of art from periods as early as the 8th Century and, of course, the Crusader era that has been preserved over the ages, but no photography were allowed inside.
Our second stop took us further back into history at the House of Dionysis, a 2nd century Roman villa with remarkable mosaic tile floors of pictures from mythology.
Dionysis is not the name of the aristocrat who owned the 2000 square foot villa but rather the god of wine, who is featured prominently in the art.
For us, the highlight turned out to be the Tombs of Kings, primarily because if looked and felt like the kind of place Indiana Jones might find some amazing artifact before relying on his whip for a narrow escape.
This 4th century BC necropolis is carved from solid rock.
Contrary to its name, no kings are known to be buried there, but undoubtedly prominent Cypriots would have been the ones who could afford such elaborate digs for tombs.
When we returned to the port, I walked back toward the seaside village of Paphos to see what I assumed might be a Venetian fort.
It actually turned out that it had been a Byzantine Fort to protect the harbor but was destroyed by Venetians in 1570 to deny its use to Ottoman conquerors. The Ottomans were the ones who built Pafos Castle on the site.
Strolling further into town, I was quickly charmed by the sidewalk cafes and intriguing international mix of people, including many Russians.
As we learned in the port presentation, Russians see Cyprus as not only a wonderful island escape but also a great place to park money off shore. Cyprus is a banking haven similar to Grand Cayman and Switzerland, which makes it great escape for ex-KGB faux-capitalist Boris Badenovs to come with their hot, short-skirted Natashas.
You may recall a banking crisis in Cyprus from a few years ago, but it seems they have overcome that episode.
An odd situation that continues is the partition of the island nation. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is essentially a separate Sunni Muslim (but somewhat secular and moderate) country within greater Cyprus, which is primarily Christian but also secular and moderate.
It is an odd tip of the hat to the latter part of the 1st millennium, when Byantines and Muslims shared dominion of Cyprus, though the international community does not recognize Northern Cyprus as a separate country.
The young, attractive couple seemed like world class ballroom dancers, though they also mastered ballet and modern jazz dancing, too. In the morning before Cyprus, we took a ballroom dance class with them instructing us, as they had on the one sea day we had on this voyage.
They proved to be quite wonderful teachers, too, providing helpful tips and positive feedback in a way that kept the proceedings fun.
As on every morning aboard the ship, the buffet restaurant opened early serving a wonderful selection of foods including fresh fruits, smoothies, waffles and omelets cooked to order. Cappuccinos, macchiatos and other specialty coffees were included. I always awoke early to enjoy sunrise with coffee, as we cruised toward our next port.
 |
| Dim Sum Jazz Brunch |
Not arriving in Cyprus until noon allowed for a special jazz brunch buffet in the dining room. There was usually some sort of twist on all the menus, and in this case it was dim sum for brunch, combining terrific Asian cuisine and breakfast foods. I particularly liked the barbecued pork dumplings, which had tasty meatballs inside light, fluffy dough.
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| Harbor with Pafos Castle and Distant Azarmara Journey |
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| Agia Paraskevi |
Our first stop was Agia Paraskevi, which our guide referred to as a Crusader church but which actually had also been a Byzantine Church from the 8th or 9th Century.
The small interior includes a great deal of art from periods as early as the 8th Century and, of course, the Crusader era that has been preserved over the ages, but no photography were allowed inside.
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| House of Dionysis Art Honors Mythology |
Dionysis is not the name of the aristocrat who owned the 2000 square foot villa but rather the god of wine, who is featured prominently in the art.
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| Wes Braves the Dimple of Tomb |
For us, the highlight turned out to be the Tombs of Kings, primarily because if looked and felt like the kind of place Indiana Jones might find some amazing artifact before relying on his whip for a narrow escape.
This 4th century BC necropolis is carved from solid rock.
Contrary to its name, no kings are known to be buried there, but undoubtedly prominent Cypriots would have been the ones who could afford such elaborate digs for tombs.
When we returned to the port, I walked back toward the seaside village of Paphos to see what I assumed might be a Venetian fort.
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| Pafos Castle, A Short Walk from the Tender Stop |
Strolling further into town, I was quickly charmed by the sidewalk cafes and intriguing international mix of people, including many Russians.
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| Enjoying the Good Life In Cyprus |
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| Columns On One of the More Refined Tombs |
You may recall a banking crisis in Cyprus from a few years ago, but it seems they have overcome that episode.
An odd situation that continues is the partition of the island nation. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is essentially a separate Sunni Muslim (but somewhat secular and moderate) country within greater Cyprus, which is primarily Christian but also secular and moderate.
It is an odd tip of the hat to the latter part of the 1st millennium, when Byantines and Muslims shared dominion of Cyprus, though the international community does not recognize Northern Cyprus as a separate country.
Tombs of Kings
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| Crypt Chamber |
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| Tomb With Rounded Arch Doorway |
House of Dionysis
Agia Paraskevi
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