Walking past history and lines of

More than just spectacular beaches, the Mediterranean island offers a window into a long and storied time, along with some scars from more recent clashes. One way to really experience the texture of this special place is to hike it, crossing lush mountains, meeting locals and tasting its unique flavours. By Angus Begg

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I'm not usually one for a large breakfast, but when a full day of hiking through Cyprus's olive groves, mountain forests, traces of Ottoman history and valleys overlooking the Mediterranean lies ahead, it doesn't take much to convince me to have another helping.

Tolga Tumer, co-owner of the beautiful accommodation where we were staying in the ancient town of Famagusta, kept returning with more and more dishes. He told us the building had been renovated by his architect wife, who that morning was lecturing at the local university.

Textures, memories, food and faith

If you enjoy onomatopoeia, Famagusta sounds like it was built around good food. For an architectural equivalent of Tumer's carefully constructed breakfast, the Islamic makeover of the imposing, honey-coloured and 14th century Gothic St Nicholas cathedral inspired us.

Looming over a shop doing a brisk trade in ice cream, this large historical building in Cyprus was turned by Ottoman Turks into the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque in 1571 (they added a minaret and removed or concealed all images of the human form in stone, fresco or glass).