In Paphos on 25 July 2025, Aristotelis Valaoritis balanced 511 wine glasses on his head, earning a Guinness World Record. It is an extraordinary local twist on the art of balancing glasses—and a rather different way to raise a glass in Cyprus.
Small island / Big surprises
Fun Facts About Cyprus
Elephants in miniature, a royal wedding and an extraordinary balancing act. Eleven little stories worth sharing.
At Shillourokambos, archaeologists found a cat buried beside a human around 9,500 years ago. The discovery provides exceptionally early evidence of a close relationship between people and cats, thousands of years before the familiar cat imagery of ancient Egypt.
Cyprus once had dwarf elephants, with some adults standing only about a metre tall. These extinct island elephants were tiny compared with their mainland relatives; their fossils preserve a glimpse of a very different Cyprus.
The Troodos mountains contain ancient oceanic crust formed beneath the sea around 90 million years ago. Walking high above the Mediterranean today, you can explore rocks that began life on the ocean floor.
Richard the Lionheart married Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus in 1191, during the Third Crusade, and she was crowned Queen of England on the island. Tradition links the ceremony to the site of Limassol Castle, although the castle you see today was rebuilt much later.
The Knights Templar bought Cyprus from Richard the Lionheart in 1191, but gave up their brief rule after a revolt in 1192. That was more than a century before the mass arrests of Templars in France on Friday, 13 October 1307.
Commandaria is widely recognised as the world’s oldest named wine still in production. Its sweet character begins with grapes dried in the sun—a taste of Cyprus with a history reaching back to the medieval world and beyond.
Halloumi is more than a familiar name on a menu. In 2021, Halloumi/Hellim received EU Protected Designation of Origin registration, linking the name to Cyprus and specified production methods.
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in England, to a Greek Cypriot father and an English mother. Behind the internationally famous stage name was a family connection to Cyprus.
The name may sound familiar, but Limassol’s Four Seasons Hotel is not part of the international Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain. This five-star beachfront hotel is independently owned and operated by Muskita Hotels Ltd—a Cyprus hotel with its own identity.
An iron knife from Enkomi, Cyprus, now in the British Museum, dates to 1200–1050 BC. Its ivory handle was attached with bronze rivets: a small object combining three materials more than 3,000 years ago.