Kyrenia Mountains

{{Short description|Mountain range in Cyprus}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Distinguish|Taygetus}} {{redirect|Beşparmak|the mountain range in Turkey|Beşparmak Mountains}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2011}} [[File:Cyprus map topographic.svg|thumb|250x250px|Topographic map with the Kyrenia/Pentadactylos range labelled]] The '''Kyrenia Mountains''' ({{langx|el|Κερύνειο Όρος}}; {{langx|tr|Girne Dağları}}) are a long, narrow [[mountain range]] that runs for approximately {{convert|160|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} along the northern coast of the [[island of Cyprus]]. It is primarily made of hard crystalline [[limestone]], with some [[marble]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Charles F.|editor-last=Gritzner|publisher=Millennium House|date=2010|title=All of Earth|page=318}}</ref> Its highest peak is [[Mount Selvili]], at {{convert|1024|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|title=Kyrenia Mountains|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/326057/Kyrenia-Mountains|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=22 November 2014}}</ref> '''Pentadaktylos''' (also spelt ''Pentadactylos''; {{langx|el|Πενταδάκτυλος}}; {{langx|tr|Beşparmak}}) is another name for the Kyrenia Mountains,<ref name="Spilling-1999">{{cite book|last1=Spilling|first1=Michael|title=Cyprus|date=1999|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1WvHjrmhkkC}}</ref> though ''[[Britannica]]'' refers to Pentadaktylos as the "western portion" of the latter,<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Tesch|editor1-first=Noah|title=The Britannica Guide to Countries of the European Union: Cyprus, Greece, and Malta|date=2013|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|page=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AdybAAAAQBAJ}}</ref> or the part west of [[Melounta]].<ref name="Britannica" /> Pentadaktylos (''lit.'' "five-fingered") is so-named after one of its most distinguishing features, a peak that resembles five fingers.<ref name="Spilling-1999" />

The Kyrenian mountains are named after the Kyrenian mountains in Achaia, Greece, which are well known from mythology because of the connection with one of the 12 labours of Hercules, the capture of the Kerynitis deer that lived there. This sacred deer of Artemis with golden horns and bronze legs ran so fast that no one could reach it. Hercules, however, after pursuing it for a whole year, managed to catch it and transport it alive to Mycenae.

A devastating fire in July 1995 burned large portions of the Kyrenia Mountains, resulting in the loss of significant forest land and natural habitat.

The only other mountain range in Cyprus is the [[Troodos Mountains]].

==Geology== [[File:KyreniaMountainRange.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The Kyrenia Mountains]] [[File:Besparmaklar.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The "Pentadaktylos" peak]] These mountains are a series of sedimentary formations from the [[Permian]] to the Middle [[Miocene]] pushed up by a collision of the [[African Plate|African]] and [[Eurasian Plate|Eurasian]] [[Plate tectonics|plates]]. Though only half the height of the [[Troodos Mountains]], the Kyrenia Mountains are rugged and rise abruptly from the [[Mesaoria]] plain.<ref name="Panayides-2011">{{cite book|last1=Panayides|first1=Ioannis|editor1-last=Gillespie|editor1-first=Rosemary G.|editor2-last=Clague|editor2-first=D. A.|title=Encyclopedia of Islands|date=2009|publisher=University of California Press|page=212|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9ZogGs_fz8C|chapter=Cyprus}}</ref>

==History== The location of the mountains near the sea made them desirable locations for watch towers and castles overlooking the northern Cyprus coast, as well as the central plain. These castles generally date from the 10th through the 15th centuries, primarily constructed by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and Lusignans. The castles of [[St. Hilarion Castle|St. Hilarion]], [[Buffavento]], and [[Kantara Castle|Kantara]] sit astride peaks and were of strategic importance during much of the history of Cyprus during the [[Middle Ages]].

==Painted flag== [[File:Nicosia 01-2017 img17 View from Shacolas Tower.jpg|thumb|The [[flag of Northern Cyprus]] on the mountainside]]

A [[flag of Northern Cyprus]] is painted on the southern slope of the Kyrenia Mountains. It is reportedly 425{{nbsp}}metres wide and 250{{nbsp}}metres high, and is illuminated at night.<ref>{{cite web|title=Written question - Turkish flag on Mount Pentadaktylos - E-5074/2009|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+E-2009-5074+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN|website=European Parliament|access-date=22 November 2014|date=24 November 2009}}</ref>

The flag is considered controversial as evidenced in the Parliamentary Question put to the [[European Parliament]] by [[Antigoni Papadopoulou]] on 22 October 2009, "How can it permit the existence of such a flag which, apart from the catastrophic environmental damage it causes, the use of chemical substances and the brutal abuse of the environment, involves an absurd waste of electricity at a time of economic crisis? Does Turkey show sufficient respect towards the environment to justify its desire to open the relevant chapter of accession negotiations?" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=WQ&reference=E-2009-5053&language=EN |title=Parliamentary questions - Subject: Turkish flag on Mount Pentadaktylos|website=European Parliament|access-date=25 July 2018|date=24 November 2009}}</ref>

==Legends== There are many legends about the Pentadactylos mountains. One tells the story of a conceited villager who fell in love with the local queen and asked for her hand in marriage. The queen wished to be rid of the impertinent young man and requested that he bring her some water from the spring of [[Apostolos Andreas Monastery|Apostolos Andreas monastery]] in the Karpas, a perilous journey in those days. The man set off and after several weeks returned with a skin full of that precious water. The queen was most dismayed to see that he had succeeded, but still refused to marry him. In a fit of rage, he poured the water on to the earth, seized a handful of the resulting mud and threw it at the queens head. She ducked and the lump of mud sailed far across the plain to land on top of the Kyrenia mountain range, where it is to this day, still showing the impression of the thwarted villager’s five fingers.

Another famous one is of the Byzantine hero [[Digenis Akritas]]. Tradition has it that Digenis Akritas's hand gripped the mountain to get out of the sea when he came to free Cyprus from its [[Saracen]] invaders, and this is his handprint. He also threw a large rock across Cyprus to get at the Saracen ships. That rock landed in [[Paphos]] at the site of the birthplace of Aphrodite, thus known to this day as [[Petra Tou Romiou]] or "Rock of the Greek".

==References== {{Commons category|Kyrenia mountain range}} {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyrenia Mountain Range}} [[Category:Cyprus Mediterranean forests]] [[Category:Kyrenia Mountains]] [[Category:Mountains of Northern Cyprus]] [[Category:Mountain ranges of Cyprus]]