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The culture<\/a> of Cyprus is divided between the northern Turkish and the southern Greek sections of the country. Since 1974 the Turkish community<\/a> in northern Cyprus has promoted its own Turkish and Islamic culture, supporting its own newspapers and periodicals and changing many place-names to Turkish. The anniversary of the proclamation of the TRNC (November 15) is celebrated in the north, as are traditional Muslim holidays.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Greek Cypriots speak a dialect of Greek and maintain a somewhat ambivalent attitude about mainland Greeks. However, most Greek Cypriots who go abroad for their postsecondary education travel to Greece, and these young people share in the popular culture of Greece, which is itself increasingly cosmopolitan<\/a>. Even so, Greek Cypriots take care to preserve their traditional culture and to observe such important holidays as Easter (and the pre-Easter Carnival) and Anthestiria, a spring flower festival.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite years of civil conflict in the 1950s, \u201960s, and \u201970s, the younger generation of Greek Cypriots has grown up in a relatively peaceful, settled, and prosperous society that encompasses<\/a> aspects of traditional culture while welcoming world trends in dress and entertainment. These trends were introduced not only by the mass media but also by a tremendous influx of young travelers, whose presence can be felt in the dance clubs and bars that now abound throughout the island.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Greek and Turkish Cypriots alike enjoy a rich tradition of handicrafts and folk art. Among the best-known expressions of this art internationally are Cypriot lacework\u2014particularly that produced in the town of Lefkara near Nicosia\u2014and silversmithing, which is practiced throughout the island.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Geography has left Cyprus heir to numerous culinary traditions\u2014particularly those of the Levant, Anatolia, and Greece\u2014but some dishes, such as the island\u2019s halloumi<\/em> cheese, pourgouri<\/em> (a dish of boiled cracked wheat), hiromeri<\/em> (a pressed, smoked, and aged leg of pork), and sucuk<\/em> (a confection made of thickened grape juice and almonds), are purely Cypriot. As in much of the Mediterranean world, the appetizer, or meze<\/em>, in Cyprus plays a central role, often taking the place of the entr\u00e9e. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a part of every meal, and Cyprus has long been famous for its wine, viticulture having been practiced on the island for thousands of years.<\/p>\n <\/section>\n <\/p>\n Cyprus has figured in the literature of Europe for thousands of years, from the works of Ionic lyric poets to modern travel memoirs such as Lawrence Durrell\u2019s Bitter Lemons<\/em> (1957). Literary traditions are strong on the island itself. Drawing on oral tradition, on classical forms\u2014such as the tekerleme<\/em> (rigmarole) and mani<\/em> (quatrain)\u2014and on contemporary styles, Turkish Cypriot singers such as Acar Akal\u0131n and Ne\u0219e Ya\u0219in have developed a body of work that is well known on the Turkish mainland though largely untranslated into other languages. Contemporary Greek Cypriot poets are somewhat better known beyond the island, having been translated into other European languages. Several literary journals are published, and small presses issue hundreds of books in Greek and Turkish each year. Poetry is also an important element in the growing \u201cpeace culture\u201d movement, which seeks to forge social and cultural links across the island\u2019s ethnic divide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Numerous painters and sculptors work in Cyprus, and the Cultural Services office keeps the state\u2019s collection of modern Cypriot art on permanent exhibition and sponsors the annual Kypria International Festival of music and theatrical performances. In the village of Lemba, near Paphos, the Cyprus College of Art runs courses for postgraduate art students. The government encourages young composers, musicians, and folk dance groups. Both the Turkish and the Greek Cypriot communities<\/a> have active film industries, and Cypriot motion pictures have received a number of awards in international competitions. Classical and folk music enjoy a wide following among Cypriots of all ages, and the respective folk music traditions of the Greek and Turkish communities, combined with international styles, have contributed to the development of native Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot popular music styles.<\/p>\n <\/section>\n <\/p>\n The ancient cultural traditions of Cyprus are maintained partly by private enterprise and partly by government sponsorship, especially through the Cultural Services office of the Republic of Cyprus\u2019s Ministry of Education and Culture, which publishes books, awards prizes for literature, and promotes Cypriot publications. Cities have public libraries, as do many rural communities. The government-sponsored Cyprus Theatre Organization stages plays by contemporary Cypriot dramatists as well as classical works. The ancient theatres of Salamis and Soli in the Turkish sector and Kourion (Curium) in the Greek portion have been restored; a variety of plays are staged at Kourion, and a Greek theatre has been built at Nicosia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many noteworthy buildings survive from the Lusignan and Venetian periods, in particular the Gothic cathedrals at Nicosia and Famagusta and the Abbey of Bellapais near Kyrenia. There are other Gothic churches throughout the island. Orthodox Christians also built numerous churches in a distinctive style that was often influenced by the Gothic; the interiors of these illustrate the continued development of Byzantine art. Cyprus has notable examples of medieval<\/a> and Renaissance military architecture, such as the castles of Kyrenia, St. Hilarion, Buffavento, and Kantara and the elaborate Venetian fortifications of Nicosia and Famagusta.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nThe arts<\/h2>\n
Cultural institutions<\/h2>\n