Guzelyurt (Morfhou) , which means `beautiful country' in Turkish,
is aptly named. Situated in the north-west with a population
of 12,000; it is a charming little town which is surrounded
by citrus groves; their wonderful heady scent is itself a good
enough reason for a visit in blossom time.
Underwater springs nourish the apples, vegetables, grapefruit
and melons for which the area is also famous. A large proportion
of the citrus fruits are exported and the remainder are turned
into fruit juice and canned for local consumption and export.
Guzelyurt (Morfhou) is also famous for its annual Orange Festival,
which is a major event lasting two weeks.
HISTORICAL PLACES OF GUZELYURT
Palace of Vouni
 This
137 room palace was built on a hilltop by the Phoenician
pro-Persian king of the neighbouring city Marion to watch
over the pro-Greek city of Soli, following an unsuccessful
revolt of the latter against the Persians in 498 BC. It was
the headquarters of a garrison and consisted of state apartments,
large storerooms and bathrooms. In 449 BC when the Persians
were defeated and the Greek rule was established, the ruler
of Marion was replaced by a pro-Greek prince and alterations
were made and a second storey with walls made from mud bricks
was added. The pro-Persian and pro-Greek histories of this
royal residence lasted for some 70 years and after it was
destroyed by the inhabitants of Soli in a fire in 380 BC
it was never rebuilt. The entrance of the original palace
of the first period was in the south-west. Here a porch led
to the state apartments: a main room and inner hall and
on the two sides a series of connecting rooms.
This section of the palace is thought to have had an official
function. From here a broad stairway of seven steps led to
columned court surrounded with rooms on three sides. Water
to almost all the main rooms was supplied from the underground
cisterns cut into the living rock of the mountain, where
the winter rain was collected. The stone stele designed to
hold a windlass over the cistern in this central courtyard
has an unfinished Figure at its centre and is thought to
have been brought from somewhere else. Some of storerooms
contain holes in which the amphorae were sunk.
In the North-west corner there is a water closet beside
another deep cistern. More storerooms stood in the eastern
corner. On this side also stood a hot bath, one of the
earliest of its kind. When the Persian rule was replaced
by that of the Greek, E1 was closed and a new entrance
was built. The ramp, an angled vestibule , a stairway
and an ante room opening to the central courtyard were
added. New storerooms around a courtyard were also
built. During excavations a clay pot blackened by the fire
which Destroyed Vouni, gold and silver bracelets, silver
bowls, and hundreds of coins bearing stamps of Marion, Kition,
Lapithos and Paphos were discovered. The small rock island
of Petra tou Limniti visible from the palace has traces of
a Neolithic settlement. At the top of the hill on which the
palace was built and towards the south are the remains of
a temple built for Athena in the third quarter of the 5th
century BC. This sanctuary consisted of two successive courtyards
and a sacred enclosure. Here traces of the holes in which
the statues were secured have survived.
Soli
 The origins of Soli are traced back to an Assyrian (700 BC)
tribute list where it is referred to as Si-il-lu. It is also
known that in 580 BC, King Philokypros moved his capital
from Aepia to Si-il-lu on the advice of his mentor Solon,
and renamed the town after the Athenian philosopher. In 498
BC along with most of the other city kingdoms of Cyprus,
Soli also rose against its Persian masters and at the end
of the war it was captured. Soli became a prosperous city
during the Roman period. However by the 4th century its harbour
was already silted up and the copper mines were closed. It
was destroyed by Arab raids in the 7th century. On the acropolis,
which occupied the top of the hill high above the theatre,
there was a royal palace similar to the one of Vouni, thought
to date from a slightly later period. In addition to silver
and gold jewellery of the Hellenistic period, excavations
have brought to light a marble statue of Aphrodite from the
1st century BC and a frieze representing the war of the Amazons
from the 2nd century BC (Cyprus Museum - Greek sector). The
so-called Fugger sarcophagus in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
of Vienna is also thought to have come from the necropolis
of Soli. Excavations have also brought to light some Hellenistic
ruins such as the remains of a colonnaded paved street which
leads to an agora with a marble monumental fountain. Excavations
have shown that a settlement was made here as early as the
11th century BC owing probably to the existence of a good
water supply, fertile soil and a protected harbour, the nearby
copper deposits and timber to smelt the copper.
Basilica of Soli
Soli is known as the traditional place where St Mark received
baptism and St Auxibius, a Roman who fled the city in the
1st century, was its first bishop. Its basilica was one of
the earliest of its kind in Cyprus featuring its own individual
characteristics. The first church of Soli is thought to have
been built in the second half of the 4th century. This was
a three aisled building of approximately 200 m length. It
began with a triple portal which led into a vestibule which
was followed by a colonnaded atrium with a fountain. A second
triple, portal led into the narthex. Inside, twelve pairs
of giant columns whose bases have survived separated the
nave from the aisles. In the east the church ended with a
triple apse. The tiers of the central apse were for the bishops
and clergy. The floor of this first church was entirely laid
with tesserae and opus sectile mosaics. A large part of these
have survived to the present day. As is the case with the
other churches of Cyprus, originally the mosaics were of
geometric design. Gradually, animals and later opus sectile
decoration - pavements made from small coloured stone tiles
- were included in the repertoire. A goose-like swan surrounded
with florals and four small dolphins in the floor of the
nave catch one's attention. The Greek inscription in mosaic
set in the apse reads "Christ save those who gave this
mosaic". During the 5th and 6th centuries the building
was enlarged. However, in the 7th century, it was razed to
the ground. The church which was built on the ruins of the
original one in the 12th century was smaller in size and
occupied the eastern section.
Roman Theatre of Soli
The Roman theatre of Soli occupies the site of the original
Greek theatre on the northern slope of a hill overlooking
the sea below. The present theatre dates from the end of
the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century AD. It has a
capacity of some 4,000 spectators. Its stage building was
of two storeys, covered with marble paneling and decorated
with statues. Its semi-circular auditorium where the spectators
sat was partly cut into the rock, and access to it as well
as to the orchestra was gained through two side entrances.
A low wall of limestone slabs separated the orchestra from
the auditorium. The last surviving seats were carried to
Port Said in the 19th century and used to rebuild the quaysides.
At present this section is restored halfway. From the stage
building only the platform on which it was built has survived.
At the west of the theatre on a nearby hill traces of the
temples dedicated to Isis and Aphrodite have been discovered.
The famous torso of the Aphrodite of Soli in the Cyprus Museum-
Greek sector was found here.
ST. Mamas Monastery
 Tradition
has it that in the 12th century Mamas, a poor Cypriot hermit,
refused to pay his taxes , and troops were sent to bring
him to the capital for punishment. On the way, the party
came across a lion about to kill a lamb. Mamas saved the
lamb and taking it in his arms, rode the wild lion and entered
the capital in this way. The Byzantine authorities were so
impressed with what they saw, they released the hermit from
his obligations and since then St. Mamas has been regarded
as the protector of tax avoiders. All round the island there
are 14 churches dedicated to St. Mamas. The Monastery of
St. Mamas situated in Guzelyurt was built in the 18th century.
Its side portals and the columns of the nave are the earlier
Gothic church were built in the Lusignan period, and was
built upon Byzantine ruins. Its believed to be sided upon
the tumb of St. Mamas. The upper part of the iconostasis,
carved of wood and painted in blue and gold, is an exquisite
example of late 16th century wood carving. Its lower part
is carved of marble and features figs, grapes and acorns,
and Venetian shields which once bore painted coats of arms.
Its sarcophagus contains two holes from which a balm against
eye and ear diseases and other illnesses oozes which also
calmed stormy seas, bringing to mind the "sweating stones" in
other Byzantine churches.
The Guzelyurt Museum (The Archeology and Nature Museum)
 The current museum building, used as the Metropolit building
before the 1974 period, houses the cultural objects found
throughout Cyprus and the area. The building was opened after
the necessary restoration was completed. The Nature section
situated on the lower floor displays a collection of died
animals, consisting of birds, fist, snakes, foxes, lambs
and tortoise etc. which are sued for educational purposes.
The upper floor of the museum, houses the Archeology Section
the archeological pieces are displayed in chronological order.
In the corner of the first room, there is a display of material
cultural remains belonging to the Neolithic era, the people
the Neolithic era being the first known inhabitants of Cyprus.
In this room there are also displays from the Bronze age
(old ages, middle ages and late ages). In the second and
third rooms there is an artificial display from the Tunba
Tu Skuru settlement. To prevent damage to the partially excavated
settlement site, North of the Ovroz river, the area has been
closed to visitors. The remaining two rooms of the museum
hold findings belonging to the Geometric, Archaic, Classical,
Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantinian periods. The most interesting
finding in the museum is the Efes Artemis sculpture, found
by coincidence near the Salamis area.
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