Cyprus is a country rich in history and culture, and has an immense heritage built on a long and varied history. Due to its location and nature, it has been subjected to numerous invasions by the major civilizations of history from Europe and the Middle East. Occupations always leave an imprint of the invading people, so the heritage of this wonderful nation is steeped in the cultures, religions, architecture, foods, and traditions of cultures long past.

Evidence of these diverse cultures are spread across the island, from archeological sites to modern traditions. Any avid historians can find a wealth of information in the many museums and archeological sites scattered across the nation, and keen photographers can find a wealth of subject matter in the archeological sites across the mountains, hills, and plains of Cyprus.

In addition, the coastal hills contain fossil relics from the ancient sea beds of a time before the dawn of civilizations.

Also of note is the strong connections of Cyprus to the metal copper. Some of the first known copper mines were located on Cyprus, and during the bronze age Cyprus was a significant exporter of copper and bronze, as demonstrated by the recent location of the ancient shipwreck at Uluburan dating from about 1400 BC containing some 10 tons of Cypriot copper ingots! In fact the Greek word for copper is derived from the Greek name for Cyprus, Kiprus.

Today the dominant culture is Greek, and Cyprus has very close affiliations with Greece, to the point where Greek Independence Day and “Ochi” Day are celebrated in Cyprus as national holidays. The main languages are Greek and English, but predominately Greek.