North Cyprus Legends

Home of the Gods

Five Finger Mountain

There are many legends about the Five Finger Mountain. 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 St Andreas monastery in the karpas.
This was a peilous journey in those days. The man set off and after several weeks returned with a skinfull 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.

Dighenis

Another legend tells of the giant Byzantine hero, Dighenis, fleeing from his arab pursuers. As he lept across the sea he grasped the top of the mountain and left his hand print. Thus the Five Finger Mountain.