Daily News of Life and times in North Cyprus goes around the world
By Chris Krzentz……..
With the many trips back to Cyprus to discover much of its heritage and people, I have had so much support and help from my dear friend, Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist and in this video interview, I would like to share with you what he told us in October 2014.
By Chris Krzentz……..
Following a trip by car with my dear friend, Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist, when we visited the Lapithos (Lapta) to Karavas (Alsancak) areas to discover Cyprus Heritage, we returned to visit Karavas to visit the ruins of the old mill up in the hills as you will see in the 10 minute video below.
Walking up to the old mill (Milos) is by a track which has an abundance of vegetation on the left hand side and on the right we can look down at some splendid views onto the outskirts of the village below.
On entering the old mill, Tuncer Bagiskan explained the the mill was used to grind wheat into flour and we saw the two round grinding stones which had been used to create the flour from wheat. Power to turn the stones was generated from water held in a water tower further up the hill which then ran in a channel down to the mill to turn the mechanism that turned the stones.
Please sit back and enjoy the video of our journey back into the past and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
To read my previous Lapithos (Lapta) to Karavas (Alsancak) article, please click here
By Chris Krzentz……..
In this video I visited the ancient city of Famagusta so do join me on my walk as we hear the music which brings forth the past as we start our walk and pass both new and ancient buildings in Kişla Yolu Sokak.
This journey through this ancient part of the city was made on the 29th October 2015 and we starting walking past Ottoman buildings on the right with modern days shops and apartments above them on the left.
As we approach the town square we see on the right the remains of the portico of the Venetian Royal Palace and as we look to the right across the square can see the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque (St Nicholas Cathedral).
Turning to our right now, we walk through the remains of the Venetian Royal Palace which was constructed in 1550 on the ruins of a former 13th century Lusignan palace which had been used by the Kings of Cyprus until it was destroyed in an earthquake in the reign of Peter II in 1369.
The remains of the Venetian palace are all that remains following its destruction by the Ottomans after they forced the Venetians to surrender the city on 1st August 1571.
In the grounds of the palace is a two-story building built by the Ottomans in which the poet Namik Kemal was imprisoned for 8 months by the Ottomans in 1873 for staging a
play which promoted nationalism and liberalism which led to his exile to Cyprus and the current building contains a museum about Namik Kemal.
As we walk across the town square and see the many bars and restaurants and people going about their every day life, we see the grand Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque (St Nicholas Cathedral). The building of the cathedral was started around 1298 and lasted to 1312 on what was believed to be the ground of a previous church.
After the fall of Famagusta to the Ottomans, they added a minaret to the northern tower and it was converted into a mosque.
Sit back and enjoy the video and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
To read my article and see the video of “The Ayia Sophia Mosque in North Nicosia, Cyprus” please click here
By Chris Krzentz……..
In this documentary and video, I will be visiting the Arabahmet Quarter in the North Part of Nicosia, Cyprus.
This journey through this ancient part of the city was made on the 16th October 2016 at around 5.00pm when the bright sun of the day was cooling but still peering into some of the narrow streets through which we walked.
I started my journey in the back streets leading to Şht. Mehmet Hüseyin Sokak and on the way passed many dilapidated buildings needing renovation and then came by more old buildings many of them in the Ottoman style, which were being renovated, which was so nice to see..
We were now walking through an area I was very familiar with as this was where the Armenians lived many years ago and we walked down the narrow Victoria Street passing on the left 
what had once been an Armenian social club but is now the Lefkosa Cultural Centre and then as we walked on passing the Armenian Church and Monastery on the right hand side, which I had visited with some Armenian friends on a previous visit, and I will tell you more of this visit later in this article.
Reaching the end of the street we arrived in Zahra Sokak which is on the edge of the Venetian city walls and we turned right and continued on seeing the football stadium in the old city moat with Ledra Palace Hotel on the other side of the moat area. As we continued we saw many fine period houses facing the city walls and then we passed Çetinkaya Spor Kulubu which is in the old city bastion and then reaching the end of our journey I turned left out of the city wall and turned left again for my final walk down to the Ledra Palace crossing point from the north to the south of Nicosia.
Sit back and enjoy the video and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
To read my article and see the video of my visit with Armenia friends “Walking through the Armenian Quarter of North Nicosia” please click here
By Chris Krzentz……..
In this step back in time, I went with my dear friend Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist, to the Ayia Sophia Mosque in North Nicosia/Lefkosa, Cyprus.
This ancient church is the chief mosque in the northern state of Cyprus, and the great festivals of Bayram and other Muslim gatherings are conducted here. It was formerly the cathedral of St. Sophia which was built in the period 1209 A.D. to 1228, over the ruins of a previous building. In style of architecture, St. Sophia resembles the famous mediaeval cathedrals of France.
Tuncer conducted me on a tour of the building which was so quiet and peaceful when you 
enter it and like so many places like this, you just feel as one with yourself. During our tour you will hear in the video Tuncer explaining about so many fascinating features of the building and its history when it was converted by the Ottomans into a mosque.
Please sit back and enjoy the video of our visit to the Ayia Sophia Mosque and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
You may also like to read about a visit I made with some Armenian friends to Victoria Street which was in the Armenian quarter in North Nicosia/Lefkosa by clicking here
By Chris Krzentz……..
Now this article is different and very tasty as my dear friend Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist, and I continued our adventures in Northern Cyprus when we visited the Kardeşler Fırını or bakery in Bogaz village near Kyrenia.
I wanted to go there because in the past I have given my mother and auntie Halloumi or Hellim which is a Cypriot delicacy and they liked it so much they asked me to bring them some more.
Halloumi or Hellim is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripe brine cheese made from a mixture of goats and sheep’s milk, and sometimes also cows milk and it 
has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled and tastes delicious.
Whilst we were there the baker showed us the ovens where he bakes the bread, of which there are so many mouth watering choices to be made.
Please sit back and enjoy the video of our visit to the Kardeşler Fırını and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
You may also like to read about my sampling of another very tasty Cypriot delicacy Mahallebi in North Nicosia/Lefkosa by clicking here
By Chris Krzentz……..
For this article we have a different type of subject as I recorded a video interview with Turkish Cypriot twins, Semra Bayhanli and Sevcan Cerkez and my dear friend Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist helped me with translations where necessary.
Semra and her twin Sevcan were born in 1961. Semra was deeply troubled by the past Cyprus problems and explained that she started to paint to express her feelings about hum
anity and she then showed us a number of paintings and described what she is trying to say though her paintings.
One of the paintings was of a partly clothed man and woman who were behind a curtain that was being opened and this painting was trying to express the fact that if we remove religion and nationality then we can see the people as they really are and we really are all very similar people.
Semra talked about a number of other beautiful paintings in great detail and she described how she is trying to say through her paintings that if we can all free ourselves from the mantle of religion and nationality, then we are all the same and by using Love for each other, we can all make a difference to the future of the world and humanity.
Next we met Sevcan Cerkez in the garden of her home and she described as a child how she developed an interest in art, using people as subjects and later without any 
formal art education she started to sculpture in clay and she showed us a lifelike figure of an elderly Cypriot lady sitting at a garden table. So lifelike was it that when I first arrived in the garden I noticed the figure and called out hello thinking it was a real person.
We then entered her house which was amazing as it had so many life sized clay figures around the rooms as well as smaller figurines which she showed us and talked about them and some of the characters were very impressive with a Sculpture of the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr Fazıl Küçük sitting and drinking a cup of coffee and a very impressive figure of a lady expressing “Freedom”.
Sevcan said “my goal is to reflect problems of Cyprus and my love for nature and humanity with my ceramics, all of which shaped my soul like a handful of mud since childhood”. You can read more of Sevcan and her work on her website by clicking here
Please sit back and enjoy the video of our discussion with these two very interesting and talented ladies and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
By Chris Krzentz……..
For this article and video my dear friend Tuncer Bagiskan, the Turkish Cypriot retired archaeologist, drove me in his car from Lapithos (Lapta) to Karavas (Alsancak) and talked about Cyprus Heritage and showed me some fascinating places.
Our journey starts as we travel north from Nicosia/Lefkosa on the dual carriageway and Tunger talks about the Cyprus Neolithic period and caves associated with this period.
Soon we climb up the mountain and as we reached the peak and start to descend we pass the turning on the left that leads to the famous Kyrenia Castle and very soon after the road twists and turns we see the sea and the town of Kyrenia/Girne below us.
By passing the town on a dual lane bypass, when we reach the end, we turn left and follow the coast road westward and then turn left and follow the road to Lapithos (Lapta) before making our way northward again to rejoin the coast road and travel back eastward past many hotels and soon as we drive through Karavas (Alsancak) we turn left and follow the signs to Camelot Beach which is on part of the old area where the ancient city of Lapithos once stood.
Turning back now towards the main road and just before we reach it, we turn left and follow a lane and when we reach the end we turn left again and follow the road northward towards the sea where we finally reach another area of the ancient city of Lapithos with many rock tombs and also the site of the old Mare Monte Hotel and its beach which I remembered from my childhood.
Please sit back and enjoy the video of our journey through many charming areas with both old and new buildings and if you like my videos, feel free to subscribe to my global YouTube channel click here and you can also find me by clicking on the following links Facebook, Chris Krzentz Presents, Cyprus Culture Group, Twitter, LinkedIn,
To read my previous Kyrenia walking tour article, please click here
