ATTRACTIONS OF NORTH CYPRUSPan Handle Area (Iskele)Isekele is one of the districts famous for its unspoilt nature and golden beaches of the Karpaz peninsular. This is a lovely district rich with historical sites as well as fauna and flora. The main agricultural products are artichokes, carobs and olives. Fishing and both irrigation and dry farming also contribute to the income of the local population. Sights to visit No.32 KANTARA CASTLE
Kantara is one of the most important castles by which the natural defence of the Kyrenia region was reinforced. The word
'Kantara' in Arabic means bridge or arch. Since the castle bridges the regions, commands the area surrounding it, and is planted on a group of steep cliffs, the name is more than appropriate. The origins of the castle go back to the tenth century when it was built as an outlook post.
The second church whose remains are incorporated in the present day building is thought to have been built in the late fifth or eighth century as a colonnaded basilica with a narthex, a nave, two aisles and an apse. After it was destroyed in the Arab raids around 700, it was rebuilt as a buttressed
basiclica. However following an earthquake in 1160 it was again restored and rebuilt as a multi-domed structure. However, the work did not finish until the fourteenth century.
This church was built in the sixth century. Originally, it began with a narthex, which opened into a courtyard surrounded with columns. The building had a columned nave with two aisles and a triple arched apse. The moasics of the church are thought to be the work of local
mosaicists, reflect the taste of the eastern Mediterranean school, represented at its best by the pavements of
Anitoch-on-the-Orontes.
Philon was the name of the bishop who converted the inhabitants of the Carpas area to Christianity in the fourth century. The early fifth century complex, which carries his name, was built on the foundations of earlier Hellenistic and Roman structures. This was the site of the ancient city of
Carpasia, initially built by the Phoenicians. The city was destroyed by Arab raids in 802.
Aphendrika was known as one of the six important cities of Cyprus at the beginning of the second century BC. Research has brought to light the remains of a citadel, a necropolis with rock-cut tombs, the site of a temple, and the ancient (silted) harbour of this settlement. By the eighth century Cyprus seemed to have recovered from the Arab raids, and though smaller than those of the previous period, new churches were built. The churches of this period have sturdy masonry piers to divide the nave from the aisles, wooden roofs, and apset east ends. Christian literature states that in one of his travels St, Andrew was returning to Palestine on a vessel whose captain was one-eyed. They put ashore here, at the current location of the monastery. St. Andrew struck a rock, and out gushed a spring whose water cured illnesses. Thus, St. Andrew restored the captain's sight. The present day building is new. Below it and close to the sea there is a rock grotto over which a fifteenth century chapel has been erected on a tiny spring of freshwater.
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