The archaeological Museum, which is located in the heart of Nicosia, is the oldest and largest Museum of Cyprus. It stores all the most valuable archaeological finds that have been discovered on the island.

The institution was founded in 1882 during the British rule in Cyprus at the initiative of the residents of the island. The reason that prompted Cypriots to unite and file a petition requesting the creation of the Museum, were several cases of illegal excavations, resulting in the values found there, were exported abroad. So, for example, about 35 thousand antiquities were sent to the museums of Britain and the USA after the excavations conducted by the American archaeologist Luigi Palma di Cesnola. Moreover, a significant part of the found items were damaged during shipping.

The Museum was created at private expense residents and initially did not even have its own premises. And only in 1908 construction began on the building where the Museum collection is currently.

First official excavations were conducted only European (mainly British) scientists. Just then, in the period from 1880 to 1931, has been collected the main part of the Museum. But after Cyprus gained independence in 1960 increased activity and local archaeologists, who also put a lot of effort for the collection of this institution.

In total, the Museum has 14 exhibition halls where you can see the ceramic, glass and stone objects – statues and figurines, dishes and vases, tools, coins and ornaments, arranged in chronological order. These halls are situated around the main Central room, where the auxiliary offices, a library and a laboratory.