Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean

An evocative and lyrical history of Cyprus and the Mediterranean. Think of a place where can you stand at the intersection of Christian and Arab cultures, at the crossroads of the British, Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Egyptian empires; a place marked by the struggle between fascism and communism and where the capital city is divided in half as a result of bloody internal conflict; where the ancient olive trees of Homer's time exist alongside the undersea cables which provide the world's internet. In Cypria, named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to The Odyssey, British Cypriot writer Alex Christofi writes a deeply personal, lyrical and historical portrait and history of the island of Cyprus, from ancient times to the present day. This sprawling, evocative and poetic book begins with the legend of the cyclops - now thought to have come from the skeletons of elephants fossilized in the stone - and the tales and storytelling at the heart of the Mediterranean culture. Christofi travels to salt lakes, mosques and the eerie towns deserted at the start of the 1974 war. He retells the particularly bloody history of Cyprus during the twentieth century and consider his own identity as traveler and returner, as Odysseus was. Written in the same sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose as his last book Dostoevsky in Love, with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, Cypria combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Map of Cyprus Timeline Introduction: The City and the City Chapter 1: Spume: The Birth of the Great Goddess Chapter 2: Olive Culture: How Trade Began Chapter 3: The Lost Kingdom of Alashiya: Diving into the Bronze Age Chapter 4: Cypria: Survivors of Mycenaean Greece Chapter 5: The Purple Ones: Phoenicians and their Philosophy Chapter 6: Apostle: The Cypriots who Spread Christianity Chapter 7: Monks and Cats: St Helena’s Pilgrimage Chapter 8: Oasis: The Arab Conquest, the Empire of Cyprus and the Third Crusade Chapter 9: The Fairytale Castle: The House of Lusignan Chapter 10: Lala Mustafa Pasha: The Siege of Famagusta and the Battle of Lepanto Chapter 11: Linen Blend: The Turkish Influence Chapter 12: Cyprus, New York: How History was Weaponised as ‘Civilisation’ Chapter 13: Olympians: Religious and Secular Authority in Britain’s Christian Colony Chapter 14: The Philhellene: The Burning Down of Government House Chapter 15: Kafeneon: The Left- and Right-Wing Schism Chapter 16: Bitter Lemons: The Struggle for Enosis Chapter 17: The Battle of the Knife: The Militarisation of Cyprus Chapter 18: The Ledra Palace Hotel: The War on Neighbours Chapter 19: Ghosts: The Tragedies of 1974 Chapter 20: Ayia Napa, Ayia Napa, Ayia Napa: The Holiday from the Self Chapter 21: Drilling for Gods: Moscow on the Med Epilogue: The Fort Notes Bibliography Picture and text credits Acknowledgements Index An evocative and lyrical history of Cyprus and the Mediterranean. Think of a place where can you stand at the intersection of Christian and Arab cultures, at the crossroads of the British, Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman and Egyptian empires; a place marked by the struggle between fascism and communism and where the capital city is divided in half as a result of bloody internal conflict; where the ancient olive trees of Homer's time exist alongside the undersea cables which provide the world's internet. In Cypria , named after a lost Cypriot epic which was the prequel to The Odyssey , British Cypriot writer Alex Christofi writes a deeply personal, lyrical and historical portrait and history of the island of Cyprus, from ancient times to the present day. This sprawling, evocative and poetic book begins with the legend of the cyclops and the storytelling at the heart of the Mediterranean culture. Christofi travels to salt lakes, mosques and the eerie towns deserted at the start of the 1974 war. He retells the particularly bloody history of Cyprus during the twentieth century and considers his own identity as traveler and returner, as Odysseus was. Written in the same sensitive, witty and beautifully rendered prose as his last book Dostoevsky in Love , with a novelist's flair and eye for detail, Cypria combines the political, cultural and geographical history of Cyprus with reflections on time, place and belonging.