Soli, the ancient city-kingdom on Morphou Bay

Soli, Soloi in Greek, stands on the bay west of Morphou, in the north of Cyprus, a stone’s throw from the coastal village of Gemikonağı (Karavostasi). The natural way in is the Lefka checkpoint, opened in 2018 according to the UN, and the paperwork for it is covered in crossing to Northern Cyprus. The advice on money, healthcare and safety for that side of the island is gathered in Northern Cyprus.

One of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus

For the city’s history I’m leaning on English Wikipedia, which is why I name it each time. It says an old tradition credited the Athenian lawgiver Solon with laying out and naming Soli, which archaeology doesn’t support, since the city already appears among the ten Cypriot kingdoms on the prism of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, from the 7th century BC, before Solon’s day. The same source says Soli sold timber and copper to Athens in exchange for luxury metalware, and had the island’s richest copper district to the south.

The Swedish expedition

The Kyprios Character project, run by the National Hellenic Research Foundation, recalls that between 1927 and 1931 a Swedish team of three archaeologists and an architect dug more than twenty sites on the island, Soloi and Vouni among them. It adds an intriguing detail, that the Agia Irini area to the north-east was a kind of no man’s land between the territories of Soloi and Lapithos.

According to Wikipedia, the Swedes worked at Soli in October 1927 and uncovered on the hill a group of temples dedicated to Aphrodite and Cybele, Isis, Serapis and Mithras, with plenty of marble and limestone sculpture that was once painted, its colours still faintly visible.

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What you see today

Encyclopaedia Britannica says the ancient theatres of Salamis and Soli have both been restored. The basilica keeps a mosaic of a swan among flowers, the site’s most recognisable image. If you want more ruins in the north, the big name is Salamis, at the opposite end of the island, where the Union of Cyprus Municipalities places the most glorious of the ancient Cypriot cities.

Coming in from the west

Lefka is about 4.5 km from the site, and Zodia, west of Nicosia, is the alternative if you’re starting in the capital. Official sources only make clear that the Ledra crossings are pedestrian, so I’d check in advance that Lefka will take your car, and I’d carry cover for the north. Opening hours and entry charges aren’t published anywhere I can cite. Vouni Palace, about 4 km away, rounds off the trip.

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

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