Morphou

Morphou (Template:Lang-tr) is a market town in the north-west of the Northern Cyprus. Morphou was founded by Spartans who brought with them the worship of Aphrodite. In the Middle Ages, the city was referred to as Morphou but also Theomorphou. The Morphou area grew more than half of Cyprus citrus fruits.

Morphou (Güzelyurt)
Flag
Population
• Total	12.000 (aprox)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)

St Mamas' church in Morphou

It contains one of the many churches in the country dedicated to St. Mamas, popularly believed to have lived as a hermit in a cave near Morphou. According to local legend, he was a hermit living in very poor circumstances and when the authorities tried to tax him, he evaded them. Soldiers were sent out and captured him but on the way back to town, he saw a lion attacking a lamb, escaped the soldiers, saved the lamb, jumped on the lion's back and in that way came to town. His bravery earned him exemption from tax, hence his traditional attribute.

Between 1907 and 1948, Morphou was one of the prominent stations of the Cyprus Government Railway

Morphou was conquered by the Turks during the 1974 events.

Modern Era

The town is called Güzelyurt by the Turkish Cypriots, which means `beautiful country' in Turkish and has a population of 12,000 people. The town is famous for its apples, vegetables, grapefruit and melons for which a large proportion of the citrus fruits are exported and the remainder are turned into fruit juice and canned for local consumption and export. Güzelyurt is also famous for its annual Orange Festival, which is a major event lasting two weeks.

St Mamas, the lamb and the lion: altar painting in the church at Morphou

The church is an icon museum now.

35°12′N 32°59′E