CAP SAINT-ANDRÉ

This rocky spur (Apostolos Andrea Burnu, Ακρωτήριο Αποστόλου Ανδρέα/Akrotirio Apostolou Andrea) is the easternmost point of the island. Access is gained from the Apostolos Andreas monastery via a poorly maintained carriage road, along which donkeys come begging for carrots and water. On arrival, the view of the Levantine Basin is magnificent. At night, you can see the lights of the Syrian city of Latakia, 107 km away. The cape owes its name to Christ's apostle Saint Andrew, who, according to local legend, was shipwrecked here on his way back to Palestine. Since the 1974 invasion, it has also been called "Cape Victory" (Zafer Burnu) in Turkish. The site was occupied by man around 8,000 years ago. Excavations carried out there by a CNRS team in 1970-1973 uncovered the circular dwellings of a fishing tribe similar to those at the Neolithic site of Chirokitia, in the Larnaka region. Alas, all this disappeared in 2005, when the Turkish army erected a promontory and flagpoles flying the colors of Turkey and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Behind the promontory is an abandoned coastguard house. The cape itself extends for 1,200 m with a string of eight rocky islets. Called "the keys" (Klides/Κλείδες in Greek), this archipelago is an important nesting ground for an endangered species of seabird, Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii).