Güzelyurt and Lefke: citrus country, Soli and the quiet west
Last verified 19 October 2026
North of the Green Line. Greek: Morfou, Lefka. Turkish: Güzelyurt, Lefke.
Güzelyurt (Morphou) and Lefke (Lefka) sit in the north west of Cyprus, on the fertile land around Morphou Bay with the foothills of the Troodos rising behind. This is the island’s citrus country, often called its fruit basket, and it sees far fewer visitors than Kyrenia or Famagusta. Come for the orange groves, two of the north’s best archaeological sites, an old mining coast and a slower pace.
In Güzelyurt
Güzelyurt town. The name means “beautiful place” in Turkish. The area has been lived in since the Bronze Age and was once a copper mining centre, and under British rule a railway linked it to Nicosia and Famagusta. There is a produce market on Saturdays, and roadside stalls on the approach roads sell freshly squeezed juice.
Oranges and citrus. The town is the centre of the island’s main citrus growing district, and holds an Orange Festival in June.
Güzelyurt Museum of Archaeology and Natural History. In the former bishop’s palace, opened as a museum in 1979. The ground floor holds stuffed Cypriot wildlife. Upstairs are Neolithic and Bronze Age finds, including material from the settlement at Toumba tou Skourou, and the courtyard holds Classical, Hellenistic and Roman stonework. Look for the gold leaf tiara and other gold pieces from Soli, found in 2005, and a 2nd century AD statue of Artemis of Ephesus found at Salamis in 1980. Small fee, paid in Turkish lira.
St Mamas church and icon museum. Next to the museum. The present church dates from the late 18th century and mixes Gothic and Byzantine styles, with frescoes, a glass chandelier and a collection of icons. Inside is the marble tomb of St Mamas. Legend says a liquid that cured earaches once flowed from it, which is why small ear shaped offerings are left around it. If the door is locked, ask at the museum.
Lefke and the coast
Lefke town. A small town overlooking Morphou Bay. Turkish settlers arrived after the Ottoman conquest of 1571 and it has been a mainly Turkish Cypriot town since. It has three mosques, the oldest being the Piri Mehmet Pasha Mosque, and the tomb of Piri Osman Pasha. The centre keeps houses from the colonial period, and the European University of Lefke brings students. Lefke calls itself the home of the date in Cyprus: local date palms are its speciality, and the town holds a Date Festival each autumn, with stalls, music and folk dancing.
Gemikonağı (Karavostasi). The coastal village six kilometres north of Lefke. Both names mean “boat stop”. Copper from the mines around Lefke was shipped from its jetty until the port closed in 1992. Today it is a quiet base for visiting Soli and Vouni.
Soli. One of the ancient city kingdoms of Cyprus, on the coast near Gemikonağı. Most of what you see is Roman. The theatre, from the end of the 2nd century AD, has been restored to about half its original height and looks out to sea. Its stone was partly carried off in the 19th century for the harbour at Port Said in Egypt. The highlight is the basilica of St Auxibius, one of the island’s first churches, dated to the late 4th century AD. Its floor mosaics survive well, above all a swan framed by flowers and four small dolphins. Small fee, paid in Turkish lira.
Vouni palace. On a conical hilltop about nine kilometres west of Gemikonağı, roughly 250 metres above the sea. Building began around 500 BC, it is thought to have had around 137 rooms, and it burned down in 380 BC. The ruins are low walls, a cistern and the remains of a bath house, but the 360 degree view over the bay is the real reward. The road up is narrow and steep. Small fee, paid in Turkish lira.
Kokkina (Erenköy). Further west along the coast, a small area separated from the rest of the north. It has been used as a military camp since 1976 and is not somewhere to plan a visit.
The Kormakitis cape
Koruçam (Kormakitis). A village near the cape at the northern end of Morphou Bay. It is one of four traditionally Maronite villages in Cyprus. Its people belong to the Catholic Maronite Church and some still speak Cypriot Maronite Arabic as well as Greek and Turkish. The parish church of St George was built in 1930. Most of the remaining residents are elderly, and the village fills up at weekends when former residents and their families come back.
Cape Kormakitis and Sadrazamköy (Livera). The Beşparmak Trail, a walking route of around 255 kilometres along the Kyrenia range to Cape Apostolos Andreas, starts here, and Sadrazamköy is the first village on it.
Getting there
From Nicosia, Güzelyurt is reached on the main road west. From Kyrenia you can follow the coast road west through farmland and round the bay. The sights are spread out, so a car makes the area much easier.
From the south, the nearest crossing is Astromeritis, which leads to Zodeia (Bostancı) on the northern side and is close to Güzelyurt. It opened in 2005. A second crossing near Lefke, Lefka and Apliki, opened in 2018. Check our crossing points guide for current rules, and if you are driving a car hired in the south, read taking a hire car across the border first.