Cyprus

Cyprus has been inhabited for more than ten thousand years and, thanks to its copper — which gave the metal its name — was a prize for every Mediterranean power. Mycenaean Greeks settled it in the Bronze Age, fixing its language and culture; Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and then Alexander's successors and Rome followed. It was an early centre of Christianity, visited by Paul and Barnabas.

Byzantine rule lasted centuries, interrupted by Arab raids, before the island passed to Crusader lords, the French Lusignan dynasty, and then Venice. The Ottomans conquered Cyprus in 1571, ruling for three centuries and settling a Turkish-speaking Muslim population alongside the Greek Orthodox majority. Britain took over administration in 1878 and annexed the island in 1914.

Cyprus became independent in 1960 under a power-sharing constitution that soon broke down into intercommunal violence. In 1974 a coup by supporters of union with Greece prompted a Turkish military invasion that seized the northern third of the island. The population was divided, with Greek Cypriots fleeing south and Turkish Cypriots north. The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004; the north, recognised only by Turkey, remains outside it, and reunification talks have repeatedly failed.

Greek Cypriot culture is Greek Orthodox and Hellenic, but with its own dialect, food, music, and a strong village-and-family orientation. The church is a major landowner and political actor as well as a religious one, and saints' days, weddings, and the Easter cycle structure the year. Turkish Cypriot culture in the north is Turkish and largely secular in outlook.

Hospitality is generous and food-centred, and both communities share many customs, foods, and a slow, sociable pace built around the coffee house (kafenio). Cypriots are proud of the island's antiquity and of Aphrodite, said to have risen from the sea off its southwest coast.

The division is an ever-present fact of life: the ghost suburb of Varosha, the buffer zone running through the middle of the divided capital Nicosia, and the missing persons of 1974 are all part of the political and emotional landscape.

Most of the roughly 900,000 people in the government-controlled area live in Nicosia, the divided capital, or the coastal cities of Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos. Limassol has grown fast as a shipping, finance, and (controversially) "golden passport" hub, with a large Russian and other expatriate community.

The southern economy runs on services — tourism, financial and professional services, shipping — plus some agriculture and, prospectively, offshore natural gas. The north's smaller economy depends heavily on Turkey, tourism, and higher education.

Daily life on both sides is comfortable and Mediterranean: a long midday break in summer, dinner late and outdoors, weekends at the beach or in the mountain villages, and coffee that lingers. Many families move between a city flat and a village house.

Cypriot cooking is Levantine-Mediterranean, best experienced as meze, a long succession of small dishes. Signatures include halloumi, the squeaky sheep-and-goat cheese invented here and often grilled; sheftalia (caul-wrapped minced-meat sausages); souvla, large chunks of pork or lamb grilled slowly over charcoal; and kleftiko, lamb baked for hours in a sealed oven.

Village food leans on pulses, greens, and grains: louvi (black-eyed peas with chard), koupepia (stuffed vine leaves), trahanas soup, and olives, bread, and tahini. Loukoumades (honey-soaked dough balls), daktyla, and the Turkish Cypriot muhallebi are the sweets.

Cyprus has an ancient wine tradition, including the sweet Commandaria, said to be the world's oldest named wine still in production; the fiery grape spirit zivania; and strong Cypriot coffee served with a glass of water.

The southwest around Paphos holds the island's densest antiquities: the Roman mosaics of the House of Dionysus, the rock-cut Tombs of the Kings, and the dramatic sea stacks of Petra tou Romiou, all part of a UNESCO listing. Nearby Kourion has a cliff-top Greco-Roman theatre still used for performances.

The Troodos Mountains in the centre are cool and pine-forested, with hiking trails, the Kykkos monastery, and a cluster of small Byzantine churches whose painted interiors are collectively a World Heritage Site. In winter they carry enough snow for a modest ski area on Mount Olympus, the island's highest point.

The coast offers the sandy resorts and clear water of Ayia Napa and Protaras in the southeast, the sea-turtle beaches and wild Akamas Peninsula in the west, and, across the Green Line, the harbour town of Kyrenia beneath its castle, the ruined abbey of Bellapais, and the ancient city of Salamis near Famagusta. Nicosia's Venetian walls and its two-sided old town are worth walking on both sides of the divide.