Travel Guide Halevga – Alevkaya

Perched 620 meters above sea level and surrounded by a vast forest of Calabrian pines, this hamlet is popular with Cypriots for its cool summer temperatures and panoramic views. It is located on a pass of the Pentadactylos massif, offering views of the Kyrenia coast (to the north), the Nicosia region (to the south-west) and the Mesaoria plain (to the south-east). There are picnic areas (poorly maintained) and the starting point for several hiking trails. One is 3 km long and leads to the rocky Mount Gialas/Yayla (935 m a.s.l.) to the east. Another 2.5 km leads to the impressive Sourp Magar abandoned Armenian monastery to the south-west. There's also an 8 km loop circuit through the forest, passing by Sourp Magar (allow 2h30 for the walk). But there are no shops in the hamlet, and the small natural history museum opened here in 1990 (the Northern Cyprus Herbarium) was closed when we last visited. Halevga appears to have been settled in the Middle Ages, and underwent a timid renaissance during the British period when it became the site of a lumbering business.