Cyprus my island

The Makronisos Tombs

One of Agia Napa's most interesting discoveries found west of Agia Napa village in the locality of Makronissos, was the discovery of an ancient burial site. Between November 1989 and earl/January 1990. the Municipality of Agia Napa sponsored intensive excavations of the rock-cut tombs, which have been the target of illegal digging since 1872. Nineteen tombs have been excavated to date together with a small sanctuary to the east of the burial grounds and part of an ancient quarry adjacent to the cemetery. Recent studies indicate that some of the tombs suffered as a result of the continuous use of the quarry.

The tombs generally consist of a stepped road, which leads down to a rectangular entrance. The entrances were originally closed with one large or two smaller calcarenke slabs. Most of the chambers are almost identical. They are all provided with a rectangular trench in the middle, slightly lower than the floor of the road and three benches at the sides of the chamber. Some of the tombs have additionally one loculus carved on the longitudinal axis of the tomb opposite the entrance, while another is provided with four benches at the sides and one opposite the entrance, thus providing room for five internments. Although all tombs were looted and disturbed, some logical scientific conclusions may be drawn.

The dead were placed in clay sarcophagus, which were originally covered with three flat tiles. The tombs were used during the Hellenistic and Roman period.

The pyres found on the surface by the roads show clear evidence of practising Greek burial customs.

The sanctuary is a simple rectangular enclosure constructed with large irregular blocks. The few offerings found during the 1974 archaeological survey as well as those found during the latest excavations dace the sanctuary to the Cyprus-Classical and Hellenistic period.

Palaces

One of the most intriguing landmarks of Agia Napa is known as the Palaces.
Situated between Kermia Beach and Cape Greco, the Palaces are actually an original rock formation which, over the time, has been miraculously sculpted by the waves of the sea. It is not an architectural work, as may, on initial sight be perceived.

A spectacular sight where swimmers dive off the rocks into the crystal clear waters, the Palaces can only be reached by boat.

Monastery of Ayia Napa
The monastery of Ayia Napa is located in the homonymous village in Ammochostos District. The village got its name from the “Icon of Virgin Mary of Napes”, which means “the Saint of the woods” and thus, she was named “Agia Napa”. This is how the village got its name, Ayia Napa, “Holy Forest”.

There is not sufficient evidence as to when the Monastery was originally founded. The cave, the hiding place and the well, all testify to the existence of the Christian community, from the time of the Byzantine era. Ayia Napa was given its name before 1366. The Monastery though, as it is today, is a building of the 15th century, when Cyprus was under the sovereignty of the Venetians.

Agia Napa Aquaduct
One of the most important monuments preserved within the boundaries of the Agia Napa municipality is the aqueduct, which for hundreds of years supplied with water the monastery and the whole region. Archaeological remains found west of the monastery, in the vicinity of the Agia Thekla chapel, but in particular at the locality of Filina, provide evidence for the presence of an earlier aqueduct dating to the Roman period.

The monument in its present state of preservation is a alteration of the original Roman aqueduct, occurred during the Frankish period when the monastery was build. The source of the water is to be found somewhere on the hills between Agia Napa and Protaras. Up to the year 1974 the original visible route of the channel was marked by a barrel-shaped structure at the locality of Mana tou Nerou, known by traditionally as the House of the Greeks.

From that point the aqueduct ran all the way to the monastery following the natural contours of the bedrock. The builders exploited the principles of gravity in order to deliver water to the Monastery. At two locations, along its route, monolithic troughs incorporated in the channel were acting as settling chambers in order to collect heavy impurities. At the same time these intercepting chambers facilitated the smooth running of water at the start of each courve.