Cyprus stamps issued in 2000 - now available to buy online.

Now Available at Cyprus Stamps online shop.

Republic of Cyprus stamps issued in the year 2000

Thes are very difficult to get hold of for some strange reason..... Buy yours now before they disappear again!

Cyprus Weather - Storms all around us!

Woo Hoo! 


We have some huge storms buzzing around us just now.... Have a look at this image taken from Cyprus Storms - stormtracker page:

It says we have 15 thunderstorms surrounding us (around 6pm local time on Wednesday 16th December).


Enjoy!

On This Day In History.....

This Day in History

This Day in Historyprovided by The Free Dictionary

Diary: The trials of being an animal lover - Cyprus Mail

Some interesting articles found in the new look Cyprus Mail online news & website. Just launched today!

Diary: The trials of being an animal lover - Cyprus Mail

The trials of being an animal lover - Cyprus Mail

Interesting articles in the new look online Cyprus Mail newspaper

Diary: The trials of being an animal lover - Cyprus Mail

The History of Cyprus Stamps and a little bit more...

Stamps in Cyprus are issued by the postal services department.

The postal history of Cyprus is very closely related to the island's political past. Postal services existed during the Venetian and Ottoman periods of occupation and the first printed postage stamps appeared after the start of the British occupation in 1878. It's said that Cyprus' postal history is probably the most interesting of all Commonwealth countries!

The first postage stamps issued were identical to stamps issued in Britain - but overprinted with CYPRUS. Later issues included local themes, with the current reigning British monarch depicted in the upper corners.

The postal services department have issued stamps in several series per year since 1960. The illegally occupied areas in the North of Cyprus issue their own stamps and are separate to the Republic of Cyprus (South Cyprus). More recently the total stamps produced per issue range between 50,000 - 80,000 for each stamp.

All mail dispatched out of Cyprus must carry the Refugee Fund stamp (current value €0,02cents) in order to be posted officially. The very first Refugee Fund stamp was issued in October 1974 (originally a 1971 commemorative issue overprinted 5m to 10m Refugee Fund). New issues have been released on a fairly regular basis and since 10th January 1977 all have been of the same design depicting a person squatting in front of a stretch of coiled barbed wire. Only the colour has changed in all this time, most recently to a greyish purple colour.

Please look out for our own unofficial or private first day covers - they are very unique and collectable. Since the postal services started to produce official covers, the private covers are very quickly becoming a thing of the past. So, if you are looking for individual cachets or a hand produced & personally designed fdc - look no further...

For the latest issues of all stamps, visit our pages regularly and keep a close eye on our "News" page from the top or bottom menus and also our "Latest Issues" information, located at the right hand side of all our web pages.

Cyprus Stamps - is a member of the Cyprus Philatelic Society.

Getting married in Cyprus and need stamps for your Wedding invitations from your Cypriot relatives? Simply purchase your stamps from us to ensure you receive those all important replies to your RSVP's! 

Or - place your invitation order with Indigo-Orchid for your wedding and ask them to pre-order your Cyprus stamps to guarantee a response. Indigo-Orchid provide unique, modern personalised Wedding stationery (invitations, place cards, save the date cards etc) with fresh, vibrant and contemporary designs.

THE FORT OF LARNACA - Larnaca, Cyprus Travel Blog

I came across this website/blog just today and thought I would share it with my readers.....

THE FORT OF LARNACA - Larnaca, Cyprus Travel Blog

There are some excellent photographs from in and around Larnaca, which has always been a firm favourite with us. Enjoy!

What does your granny do in her spare time - get arrested maybe?

FORTY TWO women aged between 75 and 85, including a 95-year-old from Limassol, were shocked on Sunday when police raided their card game and confiscated their €100 in betting money.

Officers found the 42 women at the club run by two women aged 79 and 70. The oldest person arrested was a 95-year-old. The raid took place around 6pm on Sunday after a series of complaints by neighbours about noise in the evenings when the women were coming and going from the house.

Officers found that one of the rooms in the house had been set up with several tables covered in green felt. The 42 women were caught seated around the tables playing poker and gin rummy for cash in a similar fashion to a gambling club. 

Following a search police confiscated 546 chips, 530 playing cards and approximately €100 in cash. All of the women were charged in writing at the police station and then released.

The incident, however, does not appear to be and isolated one as card playing is the hobby of many elderly ladies in Limassol. Playing cards for money is illegal in Cyprus.

“Most of my friends are widows and at our age there is not much to do. For years now we organise afternoon tea parties at our houses each week, on a rotating basis. We get together, drink tea and play cards. We only gamble a few euros and it’s all just for fun,” said an 87-year-old Limassol resident who preferred to stay anonymous.

“The only thing police achieve by doing such raids is to ridicule women of a certain age,” she said.

This extract is taken from the Cyprus Mail online newspaper.

Cyprus winter - in images

Thought I would share these photos with you. I've taken them on my Nokia mobile phone during the last 4 weeks between mid October to yesterday, 11 November.

We've visited Troodos Square, Platres and the Miramare Hotel in Limassol.

The 2 photos below are taken outside the Ferios Restaurant in Troodos Square on 10th October.

Next photos were taken in Platres on Oxi Day (28th October 2009). We came out of the restaurant at the start of a thunderstorm, which eventually reached us later in the evening.

These images below, were taken at the Miramare Hotel in Limassol tourist area only yesterday, 11th November.

What a difference a few days can make in Cyprus!

And this photo below - is winter on our sofa at home in Limassol.......

Cyprus - A Mediterranean Island (Video)

A short British Pathe film clip on Cyprus and her history....

Cyprus - A Mediterranean Island

Check out the link, under Cyprus Stamps Blog

Or, click here to view the film footage (our apologies for that upper crust British accent from the 1940's)

Cyprus Stamps - New Issue Alert

Next Release Date - 12th November 2009

Pre-order before 11th November at lower price than Post Issue

Pre-orders can be made through Cyprus Stamps website. Please visit the website for current prices and availability.

Christmas 2009

Available in Mint or Cancelled to Order, First Day Covers and Full Sheets 

50th Anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights 

Available in Mint or Cancelled to Order, First Day Covers and Full Sheets

Please note: current images are taken from the offical Post Office leaflet and will be replaced on or after the day of issue.

For CTO (Cancelled to Order) stamps, please indicate you require these in the Special Instructions field when you confirm your order on Cyprus Stamps through the website.

All advance orders should be received & paid for on or before Wednesday 11th November 2009

Cyprus - Cans For Kids

Another well deserved charity in Cyprus

Check out this video footage from the Cans For Kids project.

People from around Cyprus gather for the Cans For Kids 350 Challenge, to sort and bale, in 2 hours, 350 kilos of cans for recycling, as part of the largest global day of climate action ever.

Cyprus' Dogs & Cats Need Help

Stray Dog and Cat Problem

We would like to announce to all citizens and foreign visitors to Cyprus that their visit to our beautiful island will be marred by the sad sight of so many unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats. Although local authorities are legally responsible to capture and accommodate stray dogs in suitable pounds, they refuse to do it and are therefore in violation of the law. Apart from one or two Cyprus Animal Welfare Societies that can offer pick up services, the rest of them, due to severe staff and money shortage cannot offer such a demanding service.

However they can accommodate a stray dog or distressed cat / kitten brought to their shelter, provided there is space availability.
Unfortunately the Cyprus government has totally failed its responsibilities to offer a proper animal care and control service like their European counterparts. As a result of the local authorities’ indifference, incompetence and inhumane ways in capturing and accommodating the animals, the public is forced to turn to the islands animal welfare societies.

Although the animal welfare societies are burdened with sheltering 80% of the stray dogs, with all of the financial implications involved, the local authorities who profit thousands of euros annually from the dog license fees, refuse to help these organisations.

The Cyprus Voice for Animals has been lobbying since 2008 for the creation of suitable dog pounds in each district with proper staff and service. Unfortunately following a meeting with the relevant ministry on 24th September 2009, our proposal was turned down flat on the grounds of the economic crisis! As if this state has done anything for the animals when its financial situation was better. Shame on our country!

Mary Chrysochou Anastasi
Website: Cyprus Voice for Animals
Email: info@cva.com.cy 

How to report Animal Cruelty in Cyprus:

 http://www.cva.com.cy/CVA/Animal_Cruelty.html

The "Island of Love" abandons its' only dog beach

An extract taken from an article published in the local English newspaper....

THE ISLAND’S first and only dedicated dog walking beach in Ayia Napa is to make way for a 600 berth Marina and entertainment complex.

Ayia Napa mayor Antonis Tsokkos confirmed yesterday that the beach will be relocated when construction begins on the new marina.

Asked about the move, Tsokkis said, “This was only ever a temporary dog beach while we looked for a more permanent location.”

The marina was first proposed in 2003 – long before the dog beach was designated.

The final set up and facilities have not been confirmed yet, as the consortium is still in the planning stage but is expected that in addition to a 600 boat dock, there will be a restaurant, bowling alley, Olympic-sized swimming pool and a cinema complex.

The consortium has until January 2010 to finalise their plans.

Construction will begin mid-summer in 2010 and will take just over two years to complete. Tsokkos confirmed dog walkers will be able to use the beach until then. "There will definitely be a designated dog walking beach somewhere and we in the process of identifying the best one."

This will be reassuring news for the many local dog owners in Ayia Napa. The issues of dogs on beaches came to the fore in June last year, when a man and his dog were murdered for walking on the beach. Following an altercation, Zacharias Christodoulou, 64, from Neo Chorio, ran over Constantinos Anakatos, 50 and his dog, killing both instantly. Christodoulou was convicted of murder in February this year.

It is hoped that the new marina will provide a boost to Ayia Napa’s tourist infrastructure and revenue, after August 2009 tourism figures show island wide tourist arrivals down by 11.1 per cent and revenues down by 15.6 per cent.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

By Patrick Dewhurst

Omirou Antiques Shop, Ypsonas, Limassol

Images from Omirou Antiques Shop, Ypsonas, Limassol

Omirou lives just around the corner from us and has a large antique shop close by. At the moment there is a lot of building work going on above his store. The owner of the building is adding 2 more floors and poor Omirou is getting a bit swamped and hidden.

I thought I would give him a bit of exposure on my site as he is a very good friend of ours!

I also remembered an article a little while ago about a photograph album he discovered in a bureau that came to him from the UK. He wanted to reunite the album with its' owner and a friend of ours interested in geneology managed to track them down when she returned to the UK from her holiday with us in Cyprus. The photographs are now back with the owners and more than 3 generations of the family are linked up again....

The article is reproduced below:

The case of the old photos in the bureau drawer

A SERIES of family photographs dating back five generations are being returned to their rightful owners in the UK after being found locked away in an antique bureau in Cyprus. Kathy Stott was visiting friends in the village of Ypsonas outside Limassol when she was shown the photos by a friend’s husband, who knew the owner of the local antiques store. 


Omiros Christodoulou told the Sunday Mail that he ordered a bureau from England a couple of years ago. “A drawer was locked however and it was only four months ago that I found a key to fit the lock. When I opened it, there were five or six photo albums inside. I was upset to think that people were missing out on precious family pictures so instead of throwing them away, I passed them on to Kathy, who showed a keen interest in tracking down the owners.”


Along with Christodoulou, she was baffled as to how they initially got inside the bureau, but she collected them all and took them back to England earlier this month to do a bit of detective work, with the thought that many people these days are interested in researching their family history.


An amateur genealogist, she looked through the pictures in the hope of finding a clue - and there was one: a clipping from the Great Yarmouth Mercury reporting the diamond wedding anniversary of Bertie and Florrie Willis, on Boxing Day, 1982. Speaking from Manchester, Kathy Stott told the Sunday Mail: “As I was going through the albums, I realised it was the same family as the same male face appeared in all the pictures from a baby, to a teenager, to an adult with children.” 


She said that she, “really wanted to marry the photos up with the family. I cannot imagine they meant to lose these - family history is so important. Three or four generations later, children and great-grandchildren might want to see these pictures of their relatives.” Through Genes Reunited, a family tree tracing website, she managed to track down, Maurice Willis, the man who appears in most of the photographs who is the grandson of Bertie and Florrie. 


“He was absolutely delighted and wants to meet up with me,” she said. After an article appeared in the Great Yarmouth Mercury last Thursday, another happy family member also contacted her, via e-mail. “Please forgive me for contacting you, but I am rather overwhelmed,” it said. 


“I am the grand-daughter of Bertie and Florrie Willis, the golden wedding couple in the photo that you found in Cyprus. I could not believe my eyes when I opened the Mercury and immediately rang my mum (Bert and Florrie’s daughter) to go and buy a copy. My daughter Carly is the baby in the photo with Bert on the sofa. My uncle Keith e-mailed me the photos and I have printed them out and taken them around to show my mum. She was so happy to see them.”

By Leo Leonidou, Sunday Cyprus Mail, September 24, 2006

Kouris Dam Images, Limassol, Cyprus

The above photos were taken earlier this year, 2009 - thought we would share them with you.

Kouris Dam is situated between Ypsonas and the Troodos road. You can see the opposite side of the dam by Alassa village as you drive up towards Troodos mountains.

Cyprus Independence Day - A Public Holiday (1st October)

Today, we have a holiday!

Each year on 1st October, Cyprus celebrates its' Independence Day. It commemorates becoming an official independent country after their fight against the British between 1955 and 1959 when Cyprus was a colony under the British Empire.

The actual day of independence came about on 16 August 1960 upon an agreement in both Zurich and London - between Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Cyprus later became a member of the Commonwealth in 1961 and has been a member of the EU since May 2004.

The celebration is always held on 1st October with parades in most large towns and cities. The main military parade in Nicosia is televised and distributed throughout the local TV networks.

The above image of the map of Cyprus is taken from Kitab-ı Bahriye (The Book of Navigation by Piri Reis) and is one of the most famous books of navigation. The book contains detailed information on major ports, bays, gulfs, capes, peninsulas, islands, straits and sheltered spots of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Book of Navigation was originally written between 1511 and 1521, but later revised with additional information and better-crafted charts between 1524 and 1525 for it to be presented as a gift to Suleiman the Magnificent.

Follow the Bible - website of the week

Record-breaking Bible tours Cyprus

A UNIQUE 1,500-page ‘travelling Bible’ written in 66 languages, one language for each book of the Old and New Testament combined, toured the island this week.

The colossal 7kg leather-bound Bible, measuring 46cm x 30cm, is set to be entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most widely travelled Bible in the world, as it will have visited 170 countries during a two-year global itinerary finishing in June 2010. Cyprus was its 96th stop.

Pastor David Cox, leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cyprus explained that the travelling Bible is part of the Follow the Bible initiative from the worldwide Adventist Church. “The purpose of this world tour is to encourage people to recognise the importance of the Bible and to make its wisdom and values a greater part of their lives, both for their individual benefit and the benefit of society,” he said.

The first destination for the Bible in Cyprus was the American Academy in Nicosia, where staff and students leafed through its pages and attempted to read the different languages. “Pidgin English was the most popular and amusing language for the students,” observed Pastor Janos Kovacs-Biro, evangelism director for the Adventist Church in the Trans-European region, who hand-carried the Bible for 31 days across Europe where public events were organised to showcase it.

With the formal consent of the Mayor of Nicosia, Eleni Mavrou, the next stop was the centre of Nicosia, where a special display stand was set up in the square leading to the main shopping area of Ledra Street in partnership with the Bible Society.

Moses Elmadjian, one of the organisers of the Nicosia event and also the grandson of Moses Boursalian, the first Adventist to arrive in Cyprus in 1912, said, “We invited passers-by to handle and read the Bible and offered some free guides designed to help them read the Bible all the way through in one calendar year. The Bible was read in a total of 20 languages by people of all faiths who happened to be walking by. We even had a Norwegian tour group pause for a moment and serenade us with the hymn ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine’ on their way around the town with their tour guide!”

The final destination for the Bible was Paphos, where it attracted some curiosity among tourists at the site of St Paul’s Pillar, where tradition says that the Apostle Paul was bound and lashed during his missionary journey to the island.

The Bible is now on a tour of the Middle East, proceeding through Egypt, UAE, Kuwait and finally Lebanon.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

What's Happening In Cyprus......

Limassol Children's Festival

THE THIRD annual Limassol International Children’s Festival will take place on September 27 at the Limassol Municipal Garden. The festival, aiming to promote a culture of tolerance and understanding among Limassol’s youth will see approximately 500 children of various nationalities and backgrounds take to the stage.

More than 500 kids make different show and concerts. A new concert starts every 15 min. There are exhibitions and concerts of schools, studios, clubs. The event takes place in the biggest park of Limassol – and all the Municipal Garden is full with kids and their parents (more than 3000 people).


Registration fee for schools – 85 euros. All activities, concerts, shows are free to any children.
 

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Missing Moon Rock

 
BETWEEN 1973 and 1974, America presented 135 nations of the world with pea-sized fragments of rock gathered from the moon on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission. The rocks were presented to the heads of state of 135 countries by President Nixon and later President Ford.


During the first moon landing in 1969 and the five subsequent missions, 382kg of lunar rock was collected and immediately designated the property of the United States. The majority of it is now safely ensconced in NASA’s vaults.


A quarter of a kilogram, hewn from Mother Rock 70017 in 1972, was split into 1.1g pieces, each encased in a transparent Lucite ball. These fragments were sent to 135 nations for diplomatic purposes.


However, a number of these rocks are now missing, and a very small number of nations, including Cyprus, had never heard of them at all.
 
Joseph Gutheinz, retired NASA Special Agent and now a college professor, has made a project of hunting down the missing lunar treasure.


In 1998 he went undercover in a fascinating sting operation entitled Operation Lunar Eclipse, which eventually tracked down the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock, stolen from a museum and smuggled into America.
 
Malta’s Apollo 17 rock was stolen in 2004 in an incredible piece of amateur theft. According to Gutheinz the thief simply walked into the museum, picked up the rock and pocketed it.
 
Romania’s Apollo 17 rock disappeared after the fall and execution of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.
 
The Netherlands, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are among the few countries where the location the gift rocks is known. Britain’s is on display at the Natural History Museum. One of the Dutch ones, kept in the Rijksmuseum, was recently discovered to be a piece of petrified wood, possibly from Arizona. The other Dutch rocks, all genuine, are still safely in a natural history museum.


In 2004, Gutheinz told The Times, “I’ve located about two dozen worldwide; the rest are unaccounted for. That doesn’t mean that they are gone, but my hunch is that around half are lost, stolen or in a position where they could easily be stolen. They are worth whatever a collector is prepared to pay for them.
 

--------------------------------------------------------------

Limassol Quake

 

AN EARTHQUAKE shook the island again on Wednesday 15 September, rattling buildings and even sending office workers out on the streets of Nicosia, a witness said.

According to the Geological Survey Department’s, the earthquake occurred at around 5.09pm (local time), located 10km south of Amathunta at sea.



But citing the French-based European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, Reuters reported the epicentre only being only two km deep and measuring 4.6 on the Richter Scale. (When the page link opens - click the Map tab for more detailed images for the location. You can zoom into the map at the bottom of the page).




Seismic waves were felt most intensely in high-rise buildings in Limassol, but also in surrounding villages, in Larnaca, Kiti, and even Nicosia. (Yes, I was on the 3rd floor of my office and we most definitely shook, for the 2nd time inside 4 weeks).



The area is known for having similar-strength earthquakes with the last one recorded on August 25, 2009, measuring 4.5 on the Richter Scale.
 
Cyprus lies in second most earthquake stricken zone on earth. Luckily for Cyprus it is located in a less active sector of this zone, and it experiences earthquakes less frequently and of a lower magnitude than that of Greece and Turkey. However, that does not mean that earthquakes are an isolated event. Throughout the year there are many recorded events (tremors) that while might go unnoticed by the population are still recorded by the sensors on the island. The most notable seismic threat for Cyprus probably comes from what is known as the Cyprian Arc.


The Cyprian Arc is described as being one of the least understood parts of the Alpine Himalayan tectonic belt. This could actually be referred to as an inverse arc since it almost looks like a soup bowl that holds Cyprus. It is one of the least understood geological features since even the location of the arc has not been accepted yet. While there is a large following that believe that is passes off the coast of Cyprus there has also been some research indicating that it may pass through Cyprus. While it is believed that an evacuation would be impossible due to the closeness of the arc there are seismic sensors in Cyprus that monitor local events.
 
According to the Government about 500 local events and 100 regional earthquakes are recorded each year. In the history of the island there have actually been a few strong earthquakes that have managed to destroy some of the islands cities.

North Cyprus stamps selection - my Picasa web album

Hi readers,


I just started a Picasa web album and will slowly update it with stamp images and other bits of stuff I have floating around in my pc.


So, keep an eye on this space.....


I've kicked it off with a selection of North Cyprus stamps - you can see all our stamp selection & availability on Cyprus Stamps website. Order online and pay safely with PayPal.

My Halloum mia - a little risque video to share....

Hope the link works, but to all those who understand just how gorgeous Halloumi is, you will truly appreciate this little video.


P.S. Because it's classed as a bit risque - you have to sign in or up to your You Tube account and be over 18yrs of age....

The Truth Is Out There - UFO's & Conspiracy Theories...

Here's an interesting website - not something that I tend to look into too much though personally.


I can just about get my head round Doctor Who and Torchwood tv series without mentioning the words "as far fetched as a bucket of sh*t from China"


But, if you are into UFO's, major conspiracy theories and themes, please feel free to visit Darrin's website. Contains many articles on unexplained incidents such as Roswell, 9 11 Truth, Alien Abduction and more....


Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Premonitions, Paranormal & Ghosts.....

I came across an intriguing website earlier this morning and knew I just had to share it with you all...

If you are interested in all things psychic, then this will be right up your street!

Based in the Worcester & Malvern area of UK - visit the Premonition and Radio Investigation Team site / forum today.

Cyprus Trash - photographs

Rubbish Cyprus?

If you are a lover of all things Cyprus, this posting may leave you somewhat disillusioned...

An interesting website I came across today, during my forage around the various Cyprus forum posts and online news:

Cyprus trash photographs

It shows graphic images of the amount of rubbish that is dumped in all areas in Cyprus and some of the clean up attempts that have been made.

It was posted in response to a recent article regarding human sewage (apparently in plastic bags) being found in the sea and beaches of one of the popular public beaches used by local residents in Limassol.

An extract from the article can be read below:

"There was an item on one of CyBC's lunchtime news programmes about the sewage turning up on Curium beach, an area which comes under the auspices of the British Sovereign Bases.

Our learned CyBC journalist (Paris Potamitis) seized the opportunity to do some more 'Brit-bashing', accusing them of polluting our magnificent beaches with their crap. Mr Kariolou told of how the CTO had asked the British authorities for an explanation in late July only to be told that the said pollution is likely to have been caused by a passing shipping that disposed of their waste in the sea.

The CTO insists that the waste is more likely to have been carried down the coast from the shore but whoever caused the problem isn't really the issue; it was primarily a God-given opportunity to re-focus the microscope on the others, yet again, while ignoring our culpability."

Interview with Cyprus Stamps

Hey, check out my interview on whohub and how we started our Cyprus stamps online store, including my thoughts about it.

Kevin Talks Films

I thought I would share this new Blog with you....

Kevin Talks Films

The owner is Kevin, one of my colleagues from work.

He is very "big" into modern film and TV series - I'm still waiting to borrow his 24 series!!!

Yesterday, I introduced him to Torchwood so will see if he maybe wants to borrow that from me. I find it's a much more grown up version of the Doctor Who tv series and we've just finished the first of the Torchwood series.

We're now looking forward to watching the downloaded Series 2.

Photos from Prive catamaran - Limassol Old Port, Cyprus

These photos were taken from my office summer party on 8 August 2009. We sailed out of Limassol Old Port at around 5pm and cruised out along Akrotiri coastline, almost to the peninsula. We stopped for some swimming and later came back dancing to the music after the sun had gone down.....

Dagmar

Anastasia & Yana

Nathalie

Cristina, her boyfriend & Piotr

Michele

Some more of the EGO office staff.

More archeological discoveries in Cyprus

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered what they call “an archaeological window” on the communities that provided the foundation for urbanised civilisation on Cyprus, the Antiquities Department said yesterday.

Renewed excavations at the Bronze Age community of Politiko-Troullia, in the copper-bearing foothills of the Troodos Mountains, found a series of households around a large communal courtyard. The site is 25 km southwest of Nicosia near the Ayios Irakleidios Monastery.

The find produced evidence of intensive animal husbandry and crop processing, copper metallurgy and sophisticated ceramic technology during the Middle Bronze Age, just prior to the advent of cities on Late Bronze Age Cyprus.

The Politiko-Troullia settlement, dated at 2000-1500BC, was the predecessor of ancient Tamassos the seat of a centrally important kingdom during the subsequent Iron Age.

The Antiquities Department have said the 2009 excavations at the west sector provided evidence of occupation at Politiko-Troullia “somewhat earlier” in the Middle Cypriot Period than the evidence from the east sector excavated in 2007, which dates to the latter portions of the Middle Cypriot Period.

“These results suggest the potential of a dispersed farming community comprised of earlier households with shared communal space and later discrete room blocks,” the Department said.

“The inhabitants of Politiko-Troullia appeared to have shifted from being mixed hunters and farmers to dedicated farmers and herders.”

Future excavations hope to reveal stratified evidence that may carry the record of settlement at this community earlier into the Bronze Age.

The excavations were carried out by Dr. Steven Falconer and Dr. Patricia Fall of Arizona State University, and involved graduate and undergraduate students from Cyprus, Canada and the United States.

Content by courtesy of the Cyprus Mail 2009

Collecting Cyprus stamps - need any information?

If you need any help or assistance either with completing your collection or about Cyprus Stamps website in general, please use the Cyprus Stamps online contact form.

We use Stanley Gibbons numbering system and you will find almost all our Cyprus stamp listings on both the website and our eBay listings, displayed as Cyprus Stamps SG followed by Gibbons number and the year.

Prices shown on our FREE Cyprus stamps issues list are taken from Stanley Gibbons 2008 catalogue. For our prices, please visit Cyprus Stamps website and online shop. We accept PayPal on all purchases and dispatch WorldWide.

Please note: the FREE excel list covers the Republic of Cyprus stamp issues only and does not currently include Northern Cyprus stamp issues. We are however, in the process of updating it with issues from TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) stamp issues and will post again when it is fully completed.

Click to request your FREE list of Cyprus stamps issued since 1960's - to present date.

Below is a screen shot taken from the excel workbook. The detail shows Cyprus stamps issued in 2000's decade.

Photos from Nicosia (behind the Green Line) in Northern Cyprus

Photos from behind the "Green Line" in the Turkish occupied area of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)

Taken in May 2008 in the occupied area of Nicosia. This was a little cafe/bar we stopped at after walking through the crossing point on Ledra Street.













Two, ice cold Efes (Turkish lager) to quench our thirst after waiting to cross the Green Line at Ledra Street crossing point in Nicosia.














Bit of an odd name for a sports shop!














Buytuk Han / Great Inn - an Ottoman building constructed between 1570 and 1572. Originally built to accommodate tradesmen and visitors. Now, it houses shops selling local and traditional handicrafts of Cyprus as well as a restaurant.

These photos were taken on 9 July 2009.











Buytuk Han / Great Inn - is built on a square plan with hewn stone.

These photos were taken on 9 July 2009.













Buytuk Han / Great Inn - is in the Selimiye district (the shopping & trade area of Nicosia). It has 68 rooms and 10 shops.

These photos were taken on 9 July 2009.

Cyprus Stamps - Scoop!

Today we took a visit to Nicosia and learned something that is not common knowledge!

There will be an additional issue released in November 2009 and we believe this will also be in conjunction with other European countries.

The issue is entitled:

50th Anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights and will be a single stamp value of €0.51 - released on 12th November along with the Christmas 2009 issue.

So, for all stamp collectors out there - you may want to check if your own country is doing the same ;-)

IFAW - Animal Welfare

Today's website is all about Animal Welfare.


Check out the IFAW page here


The site is available in many different languages, just choose yours from the flag options at the top of the IFAW page when it opens.

Today's Interesting Topic

I came across this article this morning and thought I would share it with you all....

If you are afraid of heights, then opening the following page may not be recommended. Open at your peril:

Don't Look Down!

Happy viewing
Michele
Stamps & First Day Covers Specialist, Cyprus

We've updated our blogger!

WE'VE CHANGED!!!

• New sites added in our Favourite Links thread.
• New videos added - to include Cyprus, Egypt and Malta
• We will try to provide more info relating to Cyprus and leave our stamps stuff to our designated Cyprus Stamps website.

Please subscribe to my RSS feeds to keep up to date at all times.

Happy reading!
Michele & Clement
We specialize in Cyprus stamps, first day covers & more

NEW Category Added to Cyprus Stamps online shop

Please see our NEW category added just this week at Cyprus Stamps website & online shop


We've added Cyprus Slogans and Special Covers to our website....


We have some from 1976 into the early 1980's with a few more recent issues.


Please feel free to visit the new category - just click here


Thanks for looking!


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Cheers
Michele
Cyprus Stamps