For most travellers, Larnaca is their first glimpse of Cyprus: most flights land here, and many discover that the city deserves much more than a quick transfer from the airport. With its relaxed palm-lined seafront promenade, its old town, its medieval castle and one of the most revered churches on the island —that of Saint Lazarus, who according to tradition became the city's second bishop after being raised from the dead by Jesus—, Larnaca combines history, sea and a calm, welcoming atmosphere.
Its surroundings hide some of the most unusual spots in Cyprus: a large salt lake that turns pink in winter with thousands of flamingos, the elegant Hala Sultan Tekke mosque on its shore (one of the holy sites of Islam), the impressive Ottoman Kamares aqueduct, the village of Lefkara, famous for its lace, and —under the sea— the Zenobia wreck, considered one of the best dive sites in the Mediterranean. Beneath the modern city also lies ancient Kition, one of the oldest city-kingdoms on the island.
This guide explores Larnaca with a practical, warm eye: the Finikoudes promenade, Saint Lazarus, the castle, the salt lake and its flamingos, Hala Sultan Tekke, the aqueduct, Lefkara and the beaches, plus how to get around from the airport, when to go and where to sleep and eat. It is a convenient, pleasant base for starting to discover the island.
Beneath modern Larnaca lies Kition, one of the oldest city-kingdoms in Cyprus, inhabited since the second millennium BC and colonised by the Phoenicians, who turned it into a thriving port and religious centre. The philosopher Zeno, founder of Stoicism, was born in Kition around 334 BC. The Christian city venerated Saint Lazarus from early times; tradition holds that he became Bishop of Kition after his resurrection. Under Ottoman rule, Larnaca was the island's main commercial and consular port, with a sizeable community of European merchants. The Hala Sultan Tekke mosque, one of the holy sites of Islam, was built beside the salt lake. The full story is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The southern coast, birthplace of Stoic philosophy in ancient Kition, scene of Richard the Lionheart's wedding in Limassol and home of the world's oldest wine, with the mythical setting of Aphrodite's birth.
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Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Beneath modern Larnaca lies Kition, one of the oldest city-kingdoms of Cyprus. The site was inhabited from the second millennium BC, in the heart of the Bronze Age, and it prospered thanks to the copper trade, the metal that brought the island fame and wealth. Its position beside a good natural harbour made it a key point on the sea routes of the eastern Mediterranean.
Around the 9th century BC, the Phoenicians, great seafarers and traders from what is now the coast of Lebanon, settled in Kition and made it one of their most important colonies on Cyprus. They built temples, among them a large sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Astarte, who was identified with the Greek Aphrodite, and they kept the city as a Phoenician stronghold even as the rest of the island became Hellenised. The remains of these walls and temples can be seen today at the Kition archaeological site, right in the middle of town.
Kition also holds a place in the history of world thought: around 334 BC it was the birthplace of Zeno of Citium (Kition), the philosopher who founded the Stoic school in Athens, one of the most influential currents of ancient philosophy. Stoicism, which taught mastery of the passions and a life lived according to reason and nature, shaped Greek and Roman thought and is still relevant today. Larnaca honours its most famous son with statues and with streets and squares named after him.
With the arrival of Christianity, Kition-Larnaca took on special meaning in Christian tradition through the figure of Saint Lazarus. According to the Gospels, Lazarus of Bethany was the man Jesus raised from the dead four days after he died, one of the best-known miracles in the New Testament. The tradition of the Church of Cyprus adds that after this, Lazarus had to flee Judea and sailed to Cyprus, where the apostles Paul and Barnabas ordained him Bishop of Kition.
Lazarus is believed to have lived in the city and served as its bishop for about thirty years, until his second and final death, and to have been buried here. In the 9th–10th century, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise had a church built over his supposed tomb. It still bears his name and is one of the most venerated churches in Cyprus. According to tradition, some of his relics were taken to Constantinople, although his sarcophagus remained an object of worship in Larnaca; in the 20th century, remains found beneath the altar revived devotion to the saint.
The Feast of Saint Lazarus, on the Saturday before Palm Sunday (known as 'Lazarus Saturday'), is one of the city's most important religious celebrations: his icon is carried in procession through the streets of the old town in a huge event that blends faith and tradition.
Larnaca is also home to a place of great importance for Islam. On the shore of the salt lake stands the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque, built around the tomb of Umm Haram, a Muslim woman who, according to Islamic tradition, was related to the Prophet Muhammad (she is said to have been his wet nurse or maternal aunt). Umm Haram accompanied the first Arab expeditions that attacked Cyprus in the mid-7th century, during the Muslim raids across the Mediterranean, and according to tradition she died here after falling from her mount and was buried beside the lake.
The site became a shrine venerated by Muslims. The present complex, with its domed mosque and minaret, its gardens and its quarters for pilgrims, was built and expanded mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries, in Ottoman times. Set among palm trees and reflected in the waters of the salt lake, it is one of the most beautiful and peaceful spots on the island.
Hala Sultan Tekke bears witness to the long Muslim and Ottoman presence in Cyprus and to the coexistence of religions on the island. Today it is both a place of Islamic pilgrimage and a cultural visit open to all, managed by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus.
During the Ottoman period (1571-1878), Larnaca enjoyed its greatest heyday of modern times. While other Cypriot cities declined, Larnaca became the island's main trading port and its diplomatic centre. The reason was its good anchorage and relative safety: the consuls of the European powers settled here (France, England, Venice, the Netherlands and others), along with a thriving community of foreign merchants who traded in cotton, silk, salt and other goods.
This cosmopolitan, international character gave Larnaca a distinctive atmosphere, more open than that of other cities on the island. The consular quarter, with its grand houses and its churches of different denominations, reflected this diversity. For centuries, the salt harvested from the salt lake was one of the city's most valuable economic resources and a highly lucrative monopoly.
The elegant Kamares Aqueduct also dates from the Ottoman era. It was built in the 18th century by the Ottoman governor to supply the city with water. Its stone arches, still standing today, are one of the symbols of Larnaca. The city remained a port and trading centre well into the British period, when the growth of Limassol and Famagusta gradually pushed it out of the spotlight.
In 1878, Cyprus came under British administration, and Larnaca remained a port and a city of some importance, although it was gradually overshadowed by the growth of Limassol and Famagusta. Under the British, the city was modernised with new infrastructure, and its community remained mixed, with Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living side by side in different neighbourhoods.
Like the rest of the island, Larnaca lived through the tensions that led to independence: the rise of Greek Cypriot nationalism and the call for enosis (union with Greece), EOKA's struggle against British rule in the 1950s, and finally the independence of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, with its delicate constitutional balance between the two communities.
The 1974 crisis, with the coup and the Turkish invasion that followed and divided the island, changed the map of Cyprus and, with it, the fate of Larnaca. The city took in many Greek Cypriot refugees from the north, while its Turkish Cypriot population moved north. Above all, the loss of Nicosia airport (which ended up in the UN buffer zone) forced the Republic of Cyprus to build a new international airport. Larnaca was chosen, and within a few years it became the country's main air gateway.
For most travellers, Larnaca today is the gateway to Cyprus, thanks to its international airport, the country's main one since 1974-1975. But it is much more than a transit point: it is a pleasant coastal city with a rich history, one that has kept its relaxed pace and Mediterranean charm despite the more intense development of Limassol and Ayia Napa.
Its seafront, with the palm-lined Finikoudes promenade and the town beach, is the heart of local life. The old town, with the Church of Saint Lazarus and the castle, holds the legacy of more than three thousand years of history, from Phoenician Kition to the present day. And the surrounding area offers some of the most unusual spots on the island: the salt lake with its flamingos, the peaceful Hala Sultan Tekke mosque, the Kamares Aqueduct, the lace-making village of Lefkara and, under the sea, the famous Zenobia wreck, a mecca for divers.
Larnaca has bet on tourism, sailing (with its marina) and services, while keeping a quiet, family-friendly character. It is a convenient, well-connected base for exploring south-eastern Cyprus, and a city that often pleasantly surprises those who decide to stay on after that first contact at the airport.
