Cyprus - Larnaca
Very much a town of two halves.
The old town, centred around the beach area is full of narrow, thankfully one way, streets with a diverse selection of mainly independent shops is very much geared towards the tourist, culminating with a palm lined promenade and marina.
The more modern part of the town is like any other town and is where most of the residents live with most tourists either passing through or visiting a supermarket.
Between the town and the airport is McKenzie beach, fast becoming a destination for the beach loving tourists.
Separating McKenzie Beach and the old town is Larnaca Fort, originally built at the southern edge of the town for defence purposes, it has been, over the years, an armoury, a prison and is now a museum housing Cypriot antiquities, whilst the courtyard serves as an open air theatre.This marks the southern end of the promenade, known locally as Foinikoudes, which translated means palm trees, which coincidentally line the promenade. Facing the promenade is a whole range of eateries ranging from international fast food chains through to ethnic Greek, Turkish, Lebanese and Syrian restaurants and almost everything inbetween.
At the top end of the promenade is the very modern marina which is, frankly, no different than most other modern marinas throughout the world. However it does have one unique facet – a cat hotel.
The visitor will soon discover that Cyprus in general and the south east of the island in particular, is home to an army of feral cats, most of whom are approachable and friendly. This “hotel” provides shelter in the form of small huts and locals leave food for the feline guests.
Legend has it Lazarus is the man purportedly bought back to life by Jesus. Legend further has it he fled to Cyprus to avoid later death threats and the Church Of St Lazarus is said to be built atop the tomb where he was allegedly interred after dying for the second and seemingly final time. Whether you choose to believe the story or not the church is a small but impressive building and worth a visit.
McKenzie beach stretches from the old town to the airport – literally, as the beach ends by the fencing at the end of the runway.Desolate and ignored for years it’s only in the last eight to ten years the area has been developed with a number of hotels and eateries being built. It would be no surprise if in the next ten years, the entire length of the beach was a long line of hotels. Now it is still relatively quiet and at the airport end of the beach there are a number of restaurants, ranging from formal to informal, facing onto the beach. One particularly recommended is the Adonis Meze Ouzo which offers great food and friendly service.
Halfway along McKenzie beach is the old fishing harbour, now tarted up, where the fishermen still unload their catches. A couple of covered units provide a base for gutting and sharing fish and the feral cats congregate waiting for the fishermen to throw them their rejects. There are a number of fish restaurants here, the pick of them being the Psarolimano Fish Tavern.
Behind McKenzie beach is Larnaca Salt Lake, well it’s a lake in the winter months, in summer it dries out to become a salt flat. In winter the lake is home to thousands of migratory birds, including European flamingos who come here for some winter sun.
On the shore of the lake is the Hala Sultan Tekke, a Muslim shrine, encompassing a mosque, mausoleum, minaret and cemetery. It’s built on a site occupied for millennia and offers a site of quite tranquillity. In winter the buildings reflect beautifully on the still salt lake.At the far side of the lake from the beach and on the edge of the new town are the remains of an aqueduct built in 1747 and complete in 1750. The aqueduct was still in use as recently as 1939 and was used to supply fresh water to the town of Larnaca. A spectaculat feat of engineering its location seems incongruous as it sits beside the main road to Limasol.
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