Deryneia, the village facing Varosha

Deryneia is a farming village like the others around it, but its position sets it apart. It sits right against the UN buffer zone, and from its fields you can see the buildings of Varosha. Here’s what to see, without the drama and sticking to what the sources say. The wider district is covered in Famagusta district.

A village on the edge

The 2021 census counted 6,229 people in Deryneia. According to Visit Famagusta, it now forms a district of Paralimni-Deryneia municipality and that its name comes from Yerinia, the homeland of settlers who, according to tradition, reached Cyprus after the Trojan War. Paralimni is right next door.

The village touches the buffer zone, the strip the UN patrols right across the island. By OpenStreetMap coordinates, Varosha, Famagusta’s former hotel quarter, which the UN describes as under the control of the Turkish military, is about 5 km away in a straight line, and from the outskirts you can see its towers by the sea. There are signs forbidding you to approach or take photos, and they should be respected.

The crossing to the north

The UN notes that the Deryneia crossing opened on 12 November 2018, the same day as Lefka, and it’s the closest to the Ayia Napa and Protaras coast. It’s the way to Famagusta. Everything to know beforehand, papers, car insurance and shopping limits, is in crossing to northern Cyprus.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Protaras for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Churches and museums

The church of the Panagia, the Nativity of the Virgin, stands near the centre. According to the region it was built in the late 15th or early 16th century, with a small Byzantine dome, was enlarged in 1727, as a plaque records, and holds icons from the 18th century or earlier. On the square, the chapel of Agios Georgios is of the same period, with a carved and gilded 16th-century iconostasis and a mural of the saint on horseback. Agia Marina, thought to date from the 12th century, ended up inside the buffer zone, and each 17 July a mass is held there under the watch of UN peacekeepers.

The folklore museum fills a traditional house on Dimitri Liperti street and recreates a farming household, with a wood oven outside where bread is still baked. Opposite, the open-air museum of traditional crafts shows carpentry, tailoring, blacksmithing, shoemaking and farming. Each opens Monday to Saturday, in the morning from 9:00 to 13:00 and again later in the day, with a €2 ticket. The region also mentions the Famagusta Municipality cultural centre, which remembers the town and the events of 1974 with a permanent photo exhibition.

The water park and the strawberries

The water theme park, east of the church of Agioi Pantes, shows how water used to be raised in Cyprus, with a well, the animal-driven wheel called the alakati, the counterweighted zygos, the Archimedes screw, a hand pump and a windmill of the local kind. It has an amphitheatre, a playground and a café.

According to the same website, Deryneia is the island’s leading strawberry grower. It holds a strawberry festival every May, many farms open to visitors from January to June, and on Saturdays from 7:00 to 13:00 there’s a farmers’ market by the stadium.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Protaras on GetYourGuide.

Getting there

OSEA routes 501 and 502 start from Deryneia, by the Green Line, and run to Frenaros, Liopetri, Ayia Napa and Paralimni, while route 710 goes to Sotira and Ayia Napa. Routes 702, 706 and 708 link the village with Paralimni and the inland villages, via Frenaros and Avgorou. The daytime single fare is €2. For a bed, the practical choice is hotels in Protaras.

If you would rather go at your own pace, see the car hire deals in Protaras: the earlier you book, the more cars are left to choose from.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Protaras for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.