Ayia Napa
AYIA NAPA - THE RESORT!
Cosmopolitan AYIA NAPA is a Mediterranean resort town on the southeast coast of Cyprus, known for its beaches.
The town's main landmark is the storied, Venetian-era Ayia Napa Monastery, which stands in the central square of Plateia Seferi.
Ayia Napa lies near Cape Greco at the eastern part of Cyprus, south of Famagusta, and forms part of a larger area known as Kokkinochoria ("Red Villages", a name derived from the vivid red colour of the soil). It is a town of the Famagusta District, in the remaining Greek-controlled southern part of the district, while the northern part has been occupied by Turkish forces since 1974.
The resort has 27 beaches, of which 14 have been awarded the blue flag award, more than any other resort in Cyprus. In 2018, it was announced that Nissi Beach, ranked as 3rd in the list of the most popular beaches in Instagram. A CNN feature ranked Nissi Beach as the best beach to visit for the month of July 2018.[28] In 2011, it came first in the TripAdvisor list of the best beaches in Europe. In 2017, Makronissos Beach was chosen by Travelweekly as the third (3rd) best beach for Cyprus and Greece.
Ayia Napa Medieval Monastery is the main point of significant historical interest in the Ayia Napa area.The Makronissos Tombs are an archaeological site consisting of set of ancient rock-cut tombs, an adjacent sanctuary and quarry, and evidence of funeral pyres.
The town contains two municipal marine museums: the Tornaritis-Pierides Museum of Marine Life and the Thalassa Agia Napa Municipal Museum (also known as the Thalassa Museum of the Sea). The former, founded in 1992, displays marine fossils, specimens, and dioramas. The latter, founded in 2005, displays the "marine heritage of Cyprus, from prehistoric times to the present" and features a full-scale replica of a 300 BC merchant ship which was salvaged during the 1960s.
The Ayia Napa Sculpture Park, which is located on the east side of Ayia Napa, was inaugurated in May 2014 with 17 sculptures. By 2017, the sculpture park contained 144 sculptures through the participation of 104 sculptors from all over the world.
On 30 September 2016, the foundation stone of the Ayia Napa Marina (the largest private project in Cyprus at the time) was set. It is expected to cost €250 million and be completed in 2021. the project underlines Ayia Napa's ambition to become "the best and most tourist resort in the Mediterranean".
