Six facts about Cyprus that rarely make the brochures — and one of them involves Leonardo da Vinci doing his shopping in a mountain village.
An island given away twice
Around 40 BC the Roman general Mark Antony gifted Cyprus, then under Roman rule, to Cleopatra of Egypt. At their first meeting she is said to have dressed as Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and arrived by chariot with incense burning around her. They met to strengthen political ties and fell in love instead. Cyprus was given to Cleopatra twice — first by Julius Caesar, then by Antony — until the fall of the Egyptian empire returned it to Rome.
Leonardo buys lace
Lefkara, in the hills south of Nicosia, is known for its handmade lace, which became widely sought in the 19th-century trade boom. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have visited in 1481 and bought lace there — used, according to the tradition, to decorate the main altar of the Duomo di Milano.