Cyprus
The enchanting island of Aphrodite provides you with the ideal environment for your home. Cyprus has the perfect Mediterranean climate, warm summers with cool breezes and mild winters brimming with sunshine. With its diverse landscape and intricate culture, Cyprus welcomes you to bask in its sunshine and bathe in its waters. Cyprus can best be described as an island of contrast and harmony. It is an island of considerable natural beauty and is blessed with a strong cultural legacy, both past and present. From independent travellers to honeymooners, archaeology aficionados to friends of nature, every visitor to Cyprus finds the island offers layer upon layer of discovery. And that golden Old World sunshine, Cyprus enjoys on average 320-plus sunny days per year, something few can resist. Add it all up and you have an ideally-situated island that truly has no equal. A place that measures up to its mystique: Cyprus.

Limassol

The lively cosmopolitan city of Limassol, in the vicinity of which your house will be located, is a fusion of excitement and serenity. A town where you can enjoy its buzzing nightlife and at the same time relax on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, one of the most important reasons why people come to live in
Limassol is to enjoy a superb quality of life. Limassol is an area known for its long tradition in cultural issues. It gives the possibility to the visitors to attend a great number of activities and visit many museums and archaeological sites and it combines, in a unique way, ancient, Frank, Byzantine and other modern historic influences. That is why is considered to be the cultural capital of Cyprus. Unlike other towns in Cyprus, Limassol is active all year around. Everywhere else of note in Cyprus is but an hour’s drive away. It also offers superb shopping and leisure facilities as well as a quite developed commercial and educational sector with a number of private schools available. Meanwhile, the up-market Amathus coastal area, known for its numerous 5-star facilities, private yacht marina and ‘Blue Flag’ public beaches is only a 5-minute drive from the city center. There ravishing five-star resorts within walking distance from well preserved historical monuments offer every amenity the modern traveller has come to expect and more, from knock-out pools, gardens and seafronts to state of the art thalassotherapy health spas.

Standard of Living
Cyprus enjoys a high European standard of living whilst the cost of living remains relatively low.

Money
On 1 January 2008 Cyprus adopted the Euro, the single European currency. The adoption of the euro will bring considerable benefits for the Cypriot citizen. Price transparency in the single market of the EU facilitates price comparability, fosters competition and leads to lower prices. The elimination of the exchange rate risk is conducive to trade transactions, thus also leading to lower prices. Travelling and buying goods and services in the euro area countries is easier, because citizens will not have the hassle of changing currencies every time they cross a border, and are better able to compare prices since they can use their own currency anywhere in the euro area. Travelling and buying goods and services outside the euro area is also easier, since the euro is an international currency and therefore widely accepted in many places outside the euro area, particularly in tourist destinations. Furthermore, both savers and investors can take advantage of increased opportunities for savings and investment, which emerge in the single financial market of the EU. Moreover, there exist important potential benefits for the economy as a whole, such as price stability, sound public finances, low interest rates and a shield for negative shocks in the external environment. These conditions are conducive to bolstering economic growth, investment and employment, to the benefit of all citizens.

Food
Cyprus offers an excellent variety of fresh and inexpensive fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. Because of the mild climate, an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables grow throughout the year. The large hypermarkets also offer a wide selection of imported commodities. Cypriot restaurants offer traditional Cypriot food as well as a variety of international cuisines including French, Italian, Chinese, Indian and Mexican.

Shopping
Shopping in Cyprus is less hectic than in most European countries. It is a casual and relaxed experience to be enjoyed at your own place.

Alcohol and Tobacco
Cyprus offers and excellent selection of local and imported wines and spirits at very reasonable prices.

Church Services
Cyprus is a Greek Orthodox country but other nominations such as the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches hold regular Sunday Services and other religious Services notably at Christmas and Easter.

Business
Travelers on business appreciate the fine conference facilities and warm, professional service at more than 70 hotels and resorts.

Banking Standards
The Cyprus banking system is similar to that of the English system. As a non-Cypriot you will need to open an external account. There are many International Banks throughout the island and all major credit cards are accepted. It is also advisable to make arrangements to have all your bills paid by Standing Order especially when not living in Cyprus all the time.

Legal System
The Cyprus Legal System is very sophisticated and is based on the British System. Non-Cypriots buying property in Cyprus can proceed with confidence knowing that they can obtain their Title Deeds through their lawyer. Legal costs are very reasonable.

Education
There are Kindergarten, Junior and Secondary fee-paying schools available to both Cypriot and non-Cypriot students. Should you wish your child to attend a Government school, a comprehensive knowledge of the Greek language is essential.

Family Pets
Should you intend to bring your dog or cat to Cyprus they must have had all the necessary vaccinations and health checks before leaving your country. The system known as Pet Tagging has been adopted throughout the EU.

Going Out
If you are looking for a fun night out, then Limassol is the place to be. There are a number of cafes, restaurants and ice-cream parlors along the seaside and up in the villages close to the town.

Cyprus Mystique
The very name Cyprus, it has been said, shimmers with an ages-old mystique. Today, history and hedonism are comfortably intertwined on the island. Ravishing five-star resorts within walking distance of well-preserved Greek and Roman ruins offer every amenity the modern traveler has come to expect and more, from knock-out pools, gardens and beachfronts to state of the art thalassotherapy health spas. One of the most impressive archaeological sites, the ancient city kingdom of Kourion, overlooks a magnificent stretch of beaches with a sparkling blue sea beyond. Along the island’s sun-kissed coastline., from Agia Napa in the east to Pafos in the west, world-class beach resorts alternate with settings untouched since antiquity. Venture away from the sybaritic shore - if you can bring yourself to - and succumb to the slow, seductive rhythms of the interior. There are old wine-producing villages with atmospheric winding streets and terraced vineyards. You can often stay the night for a song in cozy renovated traditional houses, part of the Cyprus agrotourism programme. Explore Greek Orthodox churches nestled in the hills whose walls conceal vibrantly painted Byzantine frescoes. Many are found among the pine-covered peaks of the Troodos, where a sublime silence can dissolve all sense of time, not to mention stress.

Aphrodite choice
Along the route that leads from the port city of Lemesos (Limassol) to Pafos, the roadway opens up to reveal a magnificent stretch of coastline where chalky white cliffs stand watch over a dazzling aquamarine sea. Here sun worshippers make detours for a picnic and a swim at Petra tou Romiou, a boulder that marks the spot where Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam in ancient times. In the Akamas region, hikers exploring the area’s rich flora can cool off at the grotto where the love goddess bathed after her amorous interludes. Throughout Cyprus, the typically Mediterranean landscape is still blessed with the timeless beauty of antiquity. There are crusader fortresses framed by tall cypress trees, Greco-Roman theatres carved out of cliffs and Byzantine monasteries perched improbably on mountaintops. Sophisticated cities successfully balance the ancient and modern. The capital, Lefkosia ( Nicosia), is surrounded by Venetian walls with heart-shaped bastions; Larnaka, site of the major international airport, is also home to St. Lazarus Church and the crypt of the eponymous saint resurrected by Christ. Near the animated harbor at Pafos are the Roman floor mosaics of the Houses of Aion, Achilles and Dionysus, their depictions of mythological scenes amazingly well preserved.

Cyprus through the ages
The Cyprus mystique is as much a product of its legendary beauty as it is of millennia of competing empires, all unable to resist the island’s strategic allure of the island. The perfect location, of course, never goes out of style. Nestled into the eastern Mediterranean Sea and a veritable crossroads of three continents, Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and an ideal starting point for the discovery of other exotic locales such as the Greek Islands, Egypt and the Middle East - in fact, mini-cruises set off for these places from Cyprus almost every day. But close as Cyprus may be to the world’s center stage, it is a distinctive place that can feel blissfully apart from it all. Abundant copper in antiquity put small Cyprus on the map. In fact Cyprus (Kypros in Greek) gave copper its latin name: cuprum. In the late Bronze Age, Mycenaen Greeks settled on Cyprus and stablished trade links with Egypt and the Aegean islands. This is also the period when ceramic art first flourished. As centuries drifted by, the island came variously under Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Roman rule. It was during the latter era that Marc Antony, enraptured by the island’s sweet wines, gave Cyprus as a gift to his lover, the matchless Cleopatra. After a long period of Byzantine domination, European awareness of Cyprus surged with the Crusades. In 1191 a fierce sea storm led Richard the Lionheart to put his ship into port at Lemesos. He claimed the island as his own.
From 1489 to 1571 the flag of Venice flew in Cyprus, until which time the Ottoman Turks moved in. That era ended in 1878 when Cyprus became part of the British Empire. Despite a turbulent past, or perhaps because of it, the Cypriots themselves are a resilient people. They have always remained a distinct culture - different even from their closest cousins, the Greeks - and retained their unique character. The Republic of Cyprus achieved independence in 1960 and is now a member of the European Union.

Cyprus : The Cruise Centre of the Eastern

Mediterranean
Before the armies of Alexander the Great made their famous thrusts east toward lands unconquered, their ships called into port at Cyprus to be readied and refitted. The same strategic location, at the crossroads of three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, that made Cyprus a crucial starting point for Alexander’s expanding empire makes the island a desirable centre today for a calmer kind of maritime activity: cruising. Whether for a cruise that originates there, as a port of call or a fly and cruise option, today Cyprus is among the premier cruising destinations in the Mediterranean. As the easternmost island in the Mediterranean, Cyprus is a natural point of departure for exploring this amazingly diverse region. Throughout the year locally based cruise lines help locals and tourist alike get a first hand perspective of the splendors of ancient Egypt, major attractions in Israel and Lebanon and, of course, the Greek Islands. Every year there are around 800 such “mini-cruises” leaving from the port of Limassol , one of the leading cruise ports in the Mediterranean, carrying around 250,000 passengers.
Many international cruise ships utilize Cyprus as a major port of call on their international European and Mediterranean itineraries. Every year more than 30 of the finest international cruise ships make more than 80 calls at the ports of Limassol and Larnaka carrying in excess of 100,000 passengers to visit the major attractions of Cyprus.