The nearest main town, Kyrenia,
is full of narrow cobbled streets leading down to the harbour,
which is lined with a wide range of restaurants; it takes just
a few minuets to drive. Kyrenia, with its horseshoe harbour and
lots of shops, is 10 minutes from The Amber House Villa. On Wednesday
there is a market in Kyrenia near the bus station. It's a good
place to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and you can also get
T shirts, shorts etc. Kyrenia offers the benefits of both sea
and mountain air, so is ideal for a relaxing holiday.
The food is wonderful. All the eastern Mediterranean
staples are there: tarama, humous, tsatski, dolmades, plus a variety
of vegetables of every description, either chopped in salads,
with herbs, oil, nuts, olives, sultanas, beans, rice or couscous,
goats cheese or yoghurt, followed by the ubiquitous kebab or grilled
fish and tempting sweets of the east, oozing honey and richness.
There is a small beach club and restaurant complex
very near the villa. Come to the bottom of the hill on which the
villa is situated. Turn right and follow the signs for Golden
Cove development. The beach club is situated on the left hand
side approximately 5 minutes from the villa.
The best beach for a day trip is "Turtle
Beach' - a long, open sandy beach about 10 miles east of Kyrenia
and about twenty minutes drive from The Amber House Villa. It
is often almost deserted and has a small beach bar where you can
rent umbrellas. It is a protected area, and at certain times of
the year you can see turtles hatching and scrambling down to the
sea.
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| The Kyrenia mountain range is
a long, narrow chain of mountains that runs approximately 160 km
(100 mi) along the north coast of Cyprus. The mountains are primarily
limestone, with some marble. The highest mountain, Kyparissovouno,
is 1024 m (3360 ft) in elevation. The
western half of the range is also known as the Pentadactylos mountains.
The Turkish name for these mountains is Besparmak (Besparmak :
"five fingers").
These mountains are a series of sedimentary formations
from the Permian to the Middle Miocene pushed up by a collision
of the African and Eurasian plates. Though only half the height
of the Troodos mountains, the Kyrenia mountains are very rugged
and rise abruptly from the Mesaoria plain making them very spectacular.
The placement of the mountains near the
sea made them desirable locations for watch towers and castles
overlooking the north Cyprus coast as well as the central plain.
These castles generally date from the 10th through the 15th centuries,
primarily constructed by the Byzantines and Lusignans. The castles
of St. Hilarion, Buffavento, and Kantara sit astride peaks and
were of strategic importance during much of Cyprus's history during
the Middle Ages.
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