Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish) is probably the most picturesque town in Cyprus, centred around the horseshoe-shaped harbour and overlooked by the spectacular Five Finger Mountain range.

Cosy seafood restaurants with outdoor seating areas line the waterfront. It was once a fishing harbour but is now filled with comfortable pleasure craft offering sunset cruises and fishing excursions to tourists.

A well preserved castle guards the entrance to the harbour and is one of the town’s top tourist attractions.

Also here is the Archangelos Michael Church, which was built in 1860 according to a sign outside. It was converted into the Archangelos Michael Icon Museum in 1990.

The museum contains a small but attractive collection of Greek Orthodox religious icons, painted on wood, mostly during the 19th Century.

This eye is presumably the “all seeing eye of God” and is quite a widely recognised symbol, perhaps most famously on the back of a one US dollar bill, where its presence triggers all kinds of whacky speculation among America’s more loony conspiracy theorists.

This article first appeared on thriftytraveller.wordpress.com