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Larnaca City

Larnaca's minuscule old town is clearly in decline, with numerous vacant shop- fronts close to a bar-lined, pedestrianized "Laiki Yitonia", optimistically -or rather, ominously -modelled on the one in Nicosia. Promoters tout the shore esplanade as an echo of the French Riviera, but lately they must overlook all-you-can-eat specials at McDonalds, KFC, Goody's, Pizza Hut and other assorted pubs and "snacks" and the botched renovation of the Four Lanterns, dowager empress of the in-town hotels. Worse still, the old covered market hall just inland was demolished on scanty pretext in 1997 to make way for an open-air car park, leaving the only positive recent development the restoration of several former customs warehouses on harbourfront Plana Evropis as the Larnaca Municipal Gallery (Tues-Fri 9am-2pm, Sat 9am-noon, plus Oct-April Sun 9am-noon; free), which has a changing programme of exhibitions by local and overseas artists.

The remaining sights -a much-revered church, a handsome mosque, two museums and an archeological zone -can be seen in a leisurely day, preferably a cool one, as they're scattered in such a way as to make use of the minimal city bus service difficult and a walking tour appealing.