Legends and Myths of North Cyprus

North Cyprus, like many countries across the world, is full of Legends and Myths. Whether true or not these fascinating tales and legends of North Cyprus are a pleasure to listen to or read about. Enjoy them during relaxing in North Cyprus hotels or before taking a trip to some of these mythical places on your North Cyprus holidays.

Five Finger Mountain

Some may say the Five Finger Mountain is the most beautiful attraction in North Cyprus which you can see on your holidays in Northern Cyprus but this too has many legends as to how it got its name. There is one legend of an arrogant villager who fell in love with the local queen and asked for her hand in marriage. The queen wished to be rid of the cheeky young man and asked him to bring her some water from the spring of St. Andreas monastery in the North Cyprus Karpaz region. The man set off and after several weeks returned with a small amount of the precious water. The queen was really disappointed to see that he had succeeded, but found herself still refusing to marry him. So in a fit of rage, he poured the water from the spring on to the earth, grabbed a handful of this wet earth which was by now turned into mud and threw it at the queens head. However she managed to duck in time and the lump of mud sailed far across the plain and/to/ land on top of the North Cyprus Kyrenia mountain range, where it is up to this day, still showing the impression of the disappointed villager’s five fingers. Another legend of the Five Finger Mountain is about/of the great hero of North Cyprus, Dhiyenis Akritas. When he leapt across the sea from Anatolia to save Cyprus from the Saracen invaders, legend tells how he left his handprint in the soil of North Cyprus and his five fingers forming the jagged peaks of the Kyrenia mountains.

St. Hilarion castle in North Cyprus

One legend of the Hilarion castle in North Cyprus inspired Walt Disney to use it as a design for his movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the walls and towers sprouted off the rocks at random giving it a fairy tale appearance. St. Hilarion Castle is the beautiful tourist attraction which you can visit on your Northern Cyprus holiday. The castle is said to have acquired its name from a little hermit, a holy man who fled Palestine during the 7th century to live and die up in North Cyprus, removing demons from off the mountain. Legend said that the hermit was stone deaf, so was able to ignore the tempting cries of the demons who stalked the mountains. In the end the demons finally admitted defeat, and left Hilarion and North Cyprus mountains in peace. Many, many years later a Byzantine monastery, and then later a fort sprang up around his tomb. Another of Hilarion legends is of the secret rooms and treasures. One in particular is the 101st room in the castle which opens to reveal a magical garden filled with treasures. However up to this day no one has ever found these treasures of North Cyprus.

Home of the Gods

Cyprus is said to be the home of many Olympian Gods: Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Dionysos, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis and Demeter. However legend tells us that when God created the world, he tossed from his hands lumps of clay which fell into the sea and from one of these handfuls Cyprus was created. Therefore North Cyprus is so popular for spending holidays.

Aphrodite

North Cyprus legend has it that Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, arose from the sea foam on the south-western coast of Cyprus. She went on to marry Hephaestus, the god of forge, but the goddess of love wasn’t going to let that stop her having an affair with Ares, god of war. However, she also fell in love with Adonis, a beautiful young man, who was killed while hunting in the forests of Cyprus. Legend said that where his blood fell, wild anemones grew, accompanied by rock roses, which was formed from Aphrodite’s tears and you will definitely find them during holidays in North Cyprus.

Teucer

Everyone knows the famous legend of the siege of Troy but when that ended after ten years of fighting, thousands of the warriors returned home. One of these warriors was Teucer, brother of the Greek hero Ajax and son of Telamon, who came to Cyprus and according to legend he founded the city of Salamis. During the 7th century BC this was considered to be the main city of the whole Cyprus, today however the ruins of Salamis are visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world to see the famous remains of the gymnasium and theatre on North Cyprus holidays.

St. Mama and Sarcophagus

St. Mamus was a Christian who was persecuted by the Roman authorities in Anatolia during the third century AD. He was accused of not paying taxes and was on his way to court when he saw a lion chasing a sheep. He called the lion and lion let Mamus ride on his back, while the saint tucked the sheep under his arm. According this Cyprus legend, that amazing sight led to the judge freeing Mamus and Mamus making a gift of the sheep to the judge.  Mamus died about 275 AD and legend said that his sarcophagus was washed ashore on North Cyprus. A peasant found the remains of the saint and in a vision was told to take these remains to a spot in the North Cyprus mountains and build a monastery there. Since then St. Mamas has been the patron saint of tax evaders. There are many stories, Legends and Myths of North Cyprus which you can know during North Cyprus holidays and all will be talked about for many centuries.