If you would like to learn more about the state of Northern Cyprus, you should definitely visit the museums of the island. Here you will find numerous museums of local history and culture, special museums, art museums, museums of natural history, planetariums and castles. For car fans there is for example the historic and classic engine museum of Cyprus and there is even a military museum and museums for children.
The 10 most famous museums in Northern Cyprus
Northern Nicosia
Darwish Pasha Castle.
The estate of Ahmad Darwish Pasha is the traditional estate of Nicosia. Located on Bill Pasha Street parallel to Salhi Street in Shevat. In the museum you will find the richest Ottoman artefact collection of the island which is considered one of the city’s hidden treasures. Ahmad Darwish Pasha was a leading figure in the Turkish Cypriot community and a member of the small assembly during the British colonial rule on the island. His estate is a beautiful example of Ottoman interior architecture: whitewashed walls, yellow stone arches, tiled roofs and woodwork reveal a classic love of order. The house is built in an L-shape, with a stone basement combined with the arcade that defines the walled garden, the ground floor dedicated to the housework and a shaded garden that contained a well, a bathroom, an outdoor stove and a bathhouse.
The Barbarian Museum.
It is home to Dr. Nihat Ilhan, a major who served on the Turkish mainland in Cyprus in 1963. During the coup that year, the house was attacked by Greek-Cypriot terrorists. His wife and three children were brutally murdered in a bathroom where they tried to hide. The house, in Komsel County, Nicosia, has been preserved as a museum.
Mably techie Museum
The small museum is located within the city walls and close to the Kyrenia Gate. Located on the main street leading to Sariono Square and can be spotted from a distance with the help of the six domes that rise above the rectangular structure. Since its inception in the early 17th century it has been known as “Without Taka”, where a Muslim religious sect used to perform ritual dances under the command of Sheikh. The rituals were completed in 1930 but the dance floor is completely preserved. Inside the glass cabinets you will find the original costumes of those dancers and their musical instruments. Those ceremonies were the Islamic equivalent of Christian liberation ceremonies also held at that time. In another exhibition at the museum you will find books of manuscripts of the Koran written by handwritten court veterans.
Famagusta
Namik Kamal Museum.
Namik Kamal (1840-1888) was a respected poet and national writer, spent thirty-eight months in a dungeon on the ground floor of the palace when he was punished by the Ottoman Sultan on April 9, 1873 shortly after the first performance of his play “Vatan or Silistre” at the Gadik Pasha Theater In Istanbul on April 1, 1873.
The ground floor, with only one compartment, served as a dungeon and was built in the shape of a rectangle, a low arched front door that opens onto the courtyard of the Venetian palace.
When Namik Kamal arrived in Famagusta, he first stayed on the ground floor but after a while was taken to the second floor with the approval of the Governor of Cyprus, Weissy Fassa. The steep stone steps on the side of the building will lead you to the second rectangular floor which has two large windows, a marble floor and a wooden ceiling.
The Genobulat Museum.
The main road from Nicosia to Famagusta passes alongside the Bastion of Genevanulat (Arsenal). Genevanulat, the Swar (Bay) from Kilis in Turkey, was one of the senior Ottoman soldiers in the conquest of Cyprus in 1570-1. He took part in all the operations and especially in the conquest of the city of Nicosia. After the conquest of the city he moved with the army to Famagusta, which served as the most powerful defensive point of the Venetians in Cyprus and laid siege to the city on September 18, 1570. When he was killed during the conquest, Genevanulat was buried in Bastion.
The areas leading to his tomb were converted into a museum in 1968 and he owns many beautiful examples of Turkish folk art. Inside the museum is the tomb of Geneva by Mekilis, the Ottoman-Turkish general, whose heroism is conquered by this tower and named after him. This is a large and very prominent round tower. With the help of the modern lighthouse at its head, the town was bombed.
Church of Agios Luanis.
The legendary church of the Agios Luanis, which served as an Orthodox direction, was recently renovated and reopened. The museum is recognized as a national museum containing more than 120 icons, including those of Jesus and St. John, painted in the 18th century. Agios Ioannis is the third iconic museum in Famagusta, alongside those in St. Bernabeu, and Iskala.
Iskala
Iskala Museum.
The Church of Phenagia Theotokos was declared a museum which was inaugurated on May 23, 1991. As a result of works carried out by the Department of Antiquities of the Ministry of Education and National Culture. The church where the museum is located was built in the early 12th century. The church was originally located on a secluded island and could be identified by its large dome, which included blocked and decorated access roads on its side. Such churches represent the popular ecclesiastical architecture of the 12th century in Cyprus.
In the 15th century another pass was built on the northern side and a few years later a spur to the west. The church was renovated in 1804. A carved railing taken from the original iconostasis was installed on a modern bell tower that stood in the northeast corner of the church. Some of the murals dating to the 12th century still exist today and are used as rare examples of art on the island. In addition to these magnificent murals, the museum displays paintings of symbols belonging to this church and several other icons from other parts of Northern Cyprus that have been placed under protection.
The Little Chapel of St. James is one of the most charming miniature churches in Cyprus and even an exact replica of it was built in the palace of the King of Romania for the private use of the royal family.
Kyrenia
Ship Museum
In this museum resides the oldest merchant ship known to us including its cargo towed from the seabed. The ship sailed in the Mediterranean during the lifetime of Alexander the Great and his successors. And sank in the open sea less than a mile from the Kyrenia anchorage. Evidence suggests that she was abducted by pirates around 300 BC when she was already in a rather precarious condition.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum has commissioned a team to inspect the coast of Cyprus due to shipwrecks in 1967. In Kyrenia a sponge diver put the crew on the site. The search team used metal detectors and tests and spent an entire month searching for the ship and its cargo. During the summer of 1968 and 1969 the expedition consisting of 50 underwater archaeologists, students and technicians used stereo photography and other techniques developed to record the location of each object from its charge before raising it above the water.
Arkhanglus Church.
The tall bell tower of the Greek Orthodox Church dedicated to Archangel G Michael is the town’s most obvious landmark. The church was established in 1860 and its bell tower was added about 25 years later. Today the church serves as a museum displaying icons collected from churches in the Kyrenia area.
Museum of Decorative Art.
The Museum of Decorative Art is a villa with red tiles from the 1930s that houses a collection of watercolors and paintings, as well as a colonial and oriental brick in Brick-a-Brack with a rather special charm.
Museum of Cypriot Folk Art.
The museum is located on the road to the port of Kyrenia and opened in 1974. It is a beautiful example of the modern construction of buildings in the fifth century that traditionally housed Cypriots. These buildings consisting of ground floor and upper floor have a number of main entrances overlooking the harbor. These typical Cypriot homes contain many traditional items. On the ground floor there are items like a cloth house, a plow, agricultural implements, a large pottery fan and a work bench that were used until recently but are not known by the younger generation. There is a guard room in the stairwell leading to the top floor.
