Ayios Yeoryios Alamanou and Pendakomo

Beyond Amathus, you can continue east along the old B1 road or take the A1 motorway to exit 18, which allows access to both the bay of Ayios Yeoryios Alamanou and the inland village of  Pendakomo.

As you head seawards down the pleasant, narrow vallery here, unlikely to ever be much developed, you might shun the turning up and right to the convent of Ayiou Yeoryiou(Agiou Georgiou) Alamanou,an uninteresting modern construction and a “working” institution, not a tourist attraction. Fork left instead; soon the narrow lane dwindles to dirt surface, and some 1600m from the junction you’ll arrive at the by of  Ayios Yeoryios(Agios Georgios) Alamanou. The short beach here sports coarse pebbles verging on melon-size, and to either side is some of the most impressive white-cliff scenery in cyprus,with the occasional sea-cave  or small-pebble inlet to explore. At road’s end a single, popular taverna, Paraliako Kentro tel.99624376, features sustaining seafood grills and fry-ups without airs or graces.

Some 2.5km inland,PENDAKOMO (Pentakomo) is the last village before  the border with Larnaca district and the first community east of Limassol with an existence other that of a dormitory suburb. İt supports a restoration  accommodation complex, George’s House, eight villas sleeping two to six available only by the week. İn the centre, just up from the church, is the Iris Music taverna (evening only). Food is offered, but the emphasis is on musicial and theatrical events held regularly in the covered courtyard; tel 25633733 for the current programme.

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Lady’s Mile Beach

Officially signposted as Aplostra, but still popularly known as Lady’s Nile Beach in honour of a mare named Lady that a British officer used to exercise here, the east shore is, in fact, closer to four miles of grey, hardpacked sand. No permanent development has taken place since it remains the property of the British Ministry of Defence and also because, with a mosquito-plagued salt lake behind, it is not very good as a beach. The barely sloping tidal flats are better for jogging(and dune-buggying, popular with locals) than sunbathing. Every few hundred metres there’s shack-like cafe or taverna catering for the weekend crowds, but as sings warn you, various activities, including camping, are prohibited since parts of the beach are supposedly a turtle-nesting area.

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Historic winery faces total transformation
Project aim to regenerate old Harbour Area.
Plans are underway to further enhance the Old Harbour are in Limassol’s old town, following the recent acquisition of the historical 1844 Hadjipavlou Winery in February of this year.

The area on which the now dilapidated building sits has been bought by Interlink Group and their plans to develop the site will transform the local area dramatically.

The project will consist of two separate buildings. The first. The existing derelict winery, will be carefully renovated so that the exterior fabric of the building retains its traditional charm and historical origins; within “The Winery` (as it will be called), several cafes/bistros, restaurants and lounge bars will be built, offering both locals and visitors more choice of entertainment venues.
It will also feature a Traditional Wine Museum celebrating the local historical association that winemaking has had in the region.
The second building that will be developed on site will be a modern, high-tech business and conference centre with luxury office space and plenty of car parking available for owners and tenants; set in this most rapidly developing area of town (adjacent to the proposed Limassol Marina), the architectural style of this building will be more contemporary, although it is being sympathetically constructed to blend with the surrounding areas of the old port, the historic quarter of Limassol Old town and the Mediaeval Castle.
Property developers, interlink Group, are passionate about their home town, Limassol. Alkisti Nicolaou  Hadjiyianni, Sales &  Marketing Director for the company, said:”we were born in Limassol so we love the area… we fell it’s important to keep the traditional charm of the place”.

The aim is to blend the old with a new , more modern functional style, honouring the original external facade of the building.

Already this project has sparked a great deal of local interest and support and the community is waiting to see how the development takes shape.

The Limassol Marina is literally going to be on the doorstep of “The Winery, with just metres separating both projects. Asked  if the architectural design style of each will in any way impact or detract from the other, Alkisti asid:” I think it will just add to the culture and life in Limassol”.

At the time of going to press, the developers were still waiting to confirm the timescale for expected completion of the development.

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Around of the Larnaca

The southeastern flank of Cyprus , centred on Larnaca, is still the most touristed portion of the island: main international airport. aside from its hilly western part, the district is not particularly scenic-not that this bothers most patrons of the burgeoning resorts, who seldom venture far from the clear, warm sea and their self-contained hotels.

Despite being a short motorway drive from two mega-resorts at the island’s southeastern tip, the district capital of Larnaca still claims its share of local tourism, though increasing industrialization-and the possibility that Varosha might soon be rehabilitated-shadows its future as a holiday destination.

However , just southwest of town lie two of the most appealing and most easily accessible,  the monuments in the area: the Muslim shrine of Hala Sultan Tekke by Larnaca’s salt lake, and the mosaic-graced Byzantine church of Angeloktisti at Kiti. Perivolia, on the approach to Cape Kiti, is perhaps the last human-scale resort in this part of the island. The coast beyond rewards only determined explorers; at the end of the line, little Ziyi port with it famous fish tavernas  is just as accessible from the main Nicosia Limassol expressway.

Inland  and west in Larnaca district, attractions are scattered to either side of this highway. Neolithic Khirokitia is one of the oldest known habitations on Cyprus , and a visit can be easily twinned with one to Pano Lefkara, a picturesque village in the Troodos foothills renowned for its handicrafts. More directly approached from Larnaca along a secondary road, the Chapelle Royale at Pyrga houses a rare example of Lusignan sacred mural art and nearby Stavrovouni is an equally unusual instance of a strictly penitential Cypriot  Orthodox monastery. Tokhni and nearby Kalavassos on the inland side of the A1 expressway are among the district’s more attractive villages, both now popular holiday bases thanks to some imaginative accommodation schemes taking advantage of their traditional architecture.

East of Larnaca, there is a little specifically to recommend along the coast: the sandy crescent of Larnaca Bay and the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia are each compromised in their own way. Things only look up at the two overgrown resort to either side of Cape Greko : though by no means the largest permanent community. Ayia Napa mushrooms in season to become the busiest clubbers’ resort in the area, while the strip at Protaras to the northeast is slightly more upmarket and Cypriot-oriented .

With Larnaca as a base it’s easy to make several full-or half-day trips to surrounding attractions. But to do this any degree of flexibility, you’ll need a car for while public transport links the city with most of the sites detailed there are few connections between them.  Outside Larnaca,Ayia Napa and Protaras, accommodation can be found at perivolia, Kalavassos, Tokhini, Vavla, modern Khirikitia and Pano Lefkara.

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Larnaca

Larnaca (officially  Larnaka since1996) retains little tangible evidence of its eventful history, and today presents a somewhat uneasy combination of commercial port, yacht marina and second-division tourist centre, most popular with Scandinavian and Arab visitors. Gone is the romantic town depicted in eighteenth-century engravings, with only furnace –like summer heat, an adjacent (often dry) salt lake and palm trees imparting a nostalgic Levantine touch.

Such growth as has occurred in recent decades  in primarily due to regional catastrophe; numbers were first swelled by Lebanese Christians fleeing the strife in their homeland.  Perhaps the most bizarre recent arrivals-given Cyprus’s  ban on jewish settlement from Roman times to the early British era –is a community of Lubavitcher Hassidic  jews. With a permanent population of about 75.000.  Larnaca  is just  half the size of Limassol, and more characterized by town-based tourisim though this is still dwarfed by the costal resort zone at Voroklini just to the northeast.

Larnaca is conveniently situated at the centre of its administrative district, with archeological sites, handicraft-producing villages and less popular resorts scattered in a board are all around. The main expressways to Limassol and Nicosia pass well inland west of the city, leaving the coastal plain to the southwest relatively untravelled except for local village traffic.

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