Twitter/X

On 2026-07-27 @lillysharples visited six of Cyprus's ten UNESCO-listed Byzantine…

2026-07-27 · 19:41 UTC ·@lillysharples ·1 min read

Brief

Lilly Sharples (Day 4, posted 2026-07-27) began with a sunrise hike and sauna chat, then drove Cyprus villages as a scavenger hunt to see six of the island's ten UNESCO-listed Byzantine churches, admiring 12th-century frescoes. In Nicosia she stopped at a Green Line bar run by Stavros, who served only brandy sours and discussed his refugee family history and politics.

Why it matters

On 2026-07-27 @lillysharples visited six of Cyprus's ten UNESCO-listed Byzantine churches in one day; she was struck by their 12th-century paintings.

Key details

  • Nicosia (capital since the 7th century and the only divided capital between Greek and Turkish sectors) — she met bar owner Stavros on the Green Line; his family were Turkish refugees from the Cyprus conflict, his bar serves only brandy sours, and he identifies as a committed socialist.
  • Day started with a sunrise hike and a sauna where she chatted with some women from Latvia.
Source evidence

Day 4

Started with a sunrise hike! Had breakfast then went to the sauna, where I yapped with some girls from Latvia (yes I had to look up where that is).

There are ten UNESCO listed Byzantine churches in Cyprus and my side quest today was to make it to as many as possible. I drove around villages following signs which felt like a scavenger hunt. Ended up seeing six! The paintings in these churches are absolutely mind blowing I still cannot believe they are from the 12th century. This was a 10/10 side quest. So so beautiful

I made it to Nicosia around dinner time. Veryyy interesting city. More on this later, but as a one-liner history lesson: it’s been a capital city since the 7th century, fast forward to now it’s the only divided capital city (half Greek half Turkish).

Stumbled upon an intriguing bar on the Green Line, ended up having a drink with the owner, Stavros, for an hour. His family were Turkish refugees from the Cyprus conflict but he chose to stay and open his bar on the Greek side many years ago. Only serves brandy sours. Gave me a history lesson on why they’re the national cocktail, and answered all my questions on Nicosia’s modern-day politics. He’s a committed socialist, and enjoyed telling me all the shortcomings of capitalism. Though I disagreed with all of it, he’s the kind of talker I didn’t mind losing an argument to… or maybe I just needed a second brandy sour to really get me going 😃