The Hala Sultan (Umm Haram) Tekke, SkIn southwest of Larnaca and 1 just past the airport, is quite possibly the first thing of note that you'll see on 1 arrival in Cyprus, since it's clearly visible from jets coming in to land. According to the foundation legend, Muhammad's paternal aunt, accompanying her husband on an Arab raid of Cyprus in 649, was attacked by Byzantine forces here, fell from her mule, broke her neck and was buried on the spot. A mosque grew up around the grave on the west shore of a salt lake, surrounded today by an odd mix of date palms, cypress and olives. Rain permitting, a tank and a series of channels water the grove, adding to the oasis feeling of this peaceful, bird-filled place.
Tekke literally means a dervish convent, but this was always merely a marabout or saint's tomb. Despite the events of 1974, heavy-gauge fencing and a nocturnal police guard to prevent vandalism, it's still a popular excursion target for Greek Cypriots and place of pilgrimage for both Cypriot and foreign Muslims, for Hala Sultan ranks as one of the holiest spots of Islam, after Mecca, Medina, Kairouan and Jerusalem. The twin name is Turkish Arabic: Hala Sultan means "the Ruler's paternal aunt", while Umm Haram or "Sacred Mother" seems an echo of the old Aphrodite worship.Having left your shoes at the door; you're ushered inside .the present nine-teenth-century mosque (daily: summer 7.30am-sunset, winter 9am-sunset; may close an hour before dark; donation) to the tomb recess at the rear, behind the mihrab. Beside the presumed sarcophagus of the Prophet's aunt, there's a recent (1930) tomb of the Turkish wife of King Hussein of the Hejaz. Above, shrouded in a green cloth, you'll see three slaqs of rock forming the dolmen that probably marked the grave until the mosque was built. The horizontal slab, a fifteen-ton meteorite chunk, is said to have been suspended miraculously in mid-air for centuries, before being forcibly lowered into its present position to avoid frightening the faithful who prayed underneath. The dolmen and the mosque were by no means the first permantent structures here; remains of a Late Bronze Age town, west of the access road and car park, have been excavated since the late 1970s, yielding various treasures. The wealth of material from Egypt confirms that the island's links with North Africa and the Near East go back longbefore the Ptolemies.
Flamingos and other migratory birds stop over at the lake during winrerand early spring. Like the tekke, the lake has a foundation legend, too: lately resuscitated Bishop Lazarus, passing by, asked a woman carrying some grapes for a bunch; upon her rude refusal, he retaliated by turning her vine- yard into the salty lagoon, now three metres below sea level. Post-resurrection Lazarus indeed comes down in legend as a rather grim figure; it is said that he never smiled while bishop, a result of what he'd seen during his brief sojourn in the realm of the dead.
The Kiti-bound PEAL municipal bus from Larnaca (Mon-Fri 11 daily 8am-7pm, Sat 5 daily 8am-1pm, reliable summeronly) can take you to within 1km of the tekke; have the driver set you down at the signposted side road, just the far side of the causeway over the salt lake.
On the north shore of the lake near the Limassol-bound road is the so-called Kamares aqueduct, built in 1747 by Abu Bekir, the only popular Ottoman governor of the island. The 75 surviving arches, illuminated at night to good effect, were in use until 1930.
