A little bit about the history of the island
The first traces of civilization that were found in Cyprus belong to the 8000 BC And they have an age of 9000 years. It traces the stone age, the copper age and then the bronze age.
A Golden period of development of Cyprus is the settlement of ancient Greeks in 12-11 centuries B. C. E. the civilization of the Greeks and determined the direction of culture, which began to develop in the framework of the island is the Greek language, their art, religion, and other traditions.
The Greeks founded in Cyprus and ancient city, some of which exist to this day.
Cyprus tried to conquer many peoples and civilizations – the Assyrians, the Egyptians, peppers and others, but no one can master them for long. As a result, from foreign invaders, the island was freed by the army of Alexander the great, after which the philosopher Zeno (a disciple of the famous Ptolemy) and founded in Cyprus the famous philosophical school of stoicism.
For many centuries Cyprus was part of Greece and then the Roman Empire. But in 1571 it was conquered by the Ottomans, then Cyprus was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, which broke the connection of the island with the rest of Europe. Then, in 1869, after the opening of the Suez canal, interest in the island began to show the British Empire, under the control of which Cyprus and moved in 1878.
Already in the 20th century for the possession of Cyprus was claimed by many countries, and still relatively small in its territory the island is often simply torn apart by the conflict between Christians and Muslims.
The Mediterranean sea
The only sea, which is bordered by Cyprus in the North-Eastern part, is the Mediterranean sea. Moreover, this island is the third largest in this salty pool. Cyprus lies at the distance of 380 km from Egypt, 105 km from Syria and 75 km from the border of Turkey.
Geographical location of Cyprus will attribute it to the Asian part of the continent.
The very name "Mediterranean" was first coined by the ancient writer Gaius Julius Solin, who called it the "sea in the midst of the earth." What the Mediterranean sea was connecting to different European and North African civilizations.
Inside of this basin also stands out with some more smaller and not always officially recognized, Alborán and Balearic, Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean, Cretan, Libyan, Cypriot and Levantine. One with the Mediterranean sea, the pool also includes the Marmara, Black and Caspian seas.
