Cyprus Culture

Cyprus has a long-standing cultural tradition.  Name days (the saint's day whose name coincides with that of the person concerned), weddings and funerals all have great significance.  After the church or civil ceremony an important part of weddings is the ensuing eating, drinking and dancing, which may go on for more than three days! In villages it is very common to invite the whole village. 

Greek Cypriots tend to be quite superstitious; for example, Tuesdays are believed to be unlucky, so no plans or trips are made this day - this reflects the fact that it was on a Tuesday that the Byzantine empire fell to the Ottomans.  Some Cypriots believe strongly in the "evil eye", which comes from envy or too many compliments.

Arts  Notable artists include Rhea Bailey, Mihail Kkasialos, Ioannis Kissonergis, Theodoulos Gregoriou, Helene Black, George Skoteinos, the Kalopedis family, Nicos Nicolaides, Stass Paraskos, Arestís Stasí, Telemachos Kanthos, Adamantios Diamantis, Konstantia Sofokleous and Chris Achilleos.

Backgammon  This game - "tavli" in Greek - is one of the most popular board games in Cyprus and Greece.  Visit a traditional coffee house (Kafenio) and see the village men drinking coffee and chatting over a game of tavli.