Paphos! Ethnographic Museum

A private establishment, the Ethnographic Museum of Paphos is one of the richest museums on the island. It houses the collections of Mr. Eliades, an intellectual interested in and a collector of Cypriot folk art, history, archaeology and literature. Anything you can imagine related to Cyprus is housed in this moderately sized establishment.

Museum of Marion-Arsinoe

Although I was not able to take pictures of the collection - which was amazing(!) - I thought I would give you a behind the scenes taste of a museum work room. Currently they are conserving findings from a tomb recently excavated. Look at those store cupboards.....!!!

Something I found intriguing was the material used to support ceramics during restoration. Better than sand or packaging material, lentils are used by the museum to cradle the bowl  - holding it in place while the pieces are put back together. What a great idea!

Across the Green Line - The Guzelyurt Museum

Guzelyurt - the Archaeology and Nature Museum in the north is a small, but worthy gem I was able to visit during my day excursion to Soli. Although small, this museum was full of objects found at Soli and other important sites in the area. Some of my favorites - the gold leaf diadems and terracotta figurines.

In close quarters with the museum is the St. Mamas Monastery, sculpture garden, and village mosque - quite a combination. I will be talking about the Monastery in a seperate post.

Oh yes - and the taxidermy section of the natural history wing - very creepy.