Traditional costumes of Cyprus

A cover from Cyprus 🇨🇾 

Euromed 2019 - Traditional costumes 

Date of issue : 9- July - 2019

The Cyprus stamp depicts two traditional costumes, one for women and one for men.

Cypriot costumes are of a conservative nature, but various and graceful. Each region in Cyprus had its own distinct every-day costume, with its unique characteristics in colour, fabric and decoration.

The main variations of the woman’s costume is the urban, the “Karpasiitiki” (named after the region of Karpasia, in the northeast of the island), the “Pafitiki” (named after the city of Pafos, in the west of the island) and the “orini” which was worn on the mountainous areas of Cyprus.

The basic part of the man’s costume is the multi-pleated “vraka”. Along with “vraka”, a dark, cotton, striped shirt was worn for everyday use and a silk one was worn to Sunday church service.

Bridges of Cyprus

A cover from the Republic of Cyprus 🇨🇾 with the Europa 2018 bridges stamps 

The €0.34 stamp shows the Κelefos (Tzielefos) Bridge in the District of Pafos, a few kilometres away from Agios Nikolaos village, in an idyllic area full of plane trees and rich in wildlife and flora. This little medieval stone bridge is the biggest bridge in Cyprus constructed across the Diarizos River supplying the Arminou dam located further down.

The €0.64 stamp shows the Akapnou Bridge in the District of Limassol. This little Venetian stone bridge has two arches and is located in the north-west of the Akapnou village, across a tributary of Vasilikos. This is a very interesting bridge since it has not been affected by time and we can still see the foundations of the little road going from east to west.

Thanks Vera for this beautiful cover :)