Larnaca - Hala Sultan Tekke

With a population of over 50,000, Larnaca is one of the largest cities in Cyprus.

Hala Sultan Tekke is a mosque on the shores of Larnaca Salt Lake. Umm Haram – also known as Hala Sultan – was an aunt of the Prophet Muhammad. When the Arabs conquered Cyprus in 647, she fell from her mule and lost her life. She was buried on the spot, and her grave gradually became a place of pilgrimage. In 1760, Sheikh Hassan began building a mosque. Since 1816, the Hala Sultan Tekke complex has consisted of a mosque, a mausoleum and a cemetery.


Hala Sultan Tekke is also an archaeological site. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, the grounds of the Hala Sultan Tekke were used as a cemetery by the inhabitants of a large Late Cypriot city located just a few hundred metres further west. In the late 19th century, numerous graves from the Late Bronze Age (c. 1650–1100 BC) were uncovered, containing rich grave goods.

Recent radar surveys have shown that this city was one of the largest settlements of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1100 BC). Further archaeological investigations have also brought to light architectural remains dating to the Late Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods (6th to 1st century BC).