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Underwater museum
Underwater museum MUSAN is an aquatic treasure based at Penera beach in Ayia Napa and is a national treasure for Cyprus not offered anywhere else. It is the first underwater museum and sculpture exhibition of its kind anywhere in the Meditteranean. The budget for the Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa, which opened in July, was €1.000.000 and created by the world renowned artist Jason deCaires Taylor. It offers visitors an unforgettable experience that demonstrates the relationship of humans with nature, the environment and the seabed. The mayor of Ayia Napa said, “We proved that we do not give up in difficult times, we didn’t surrender, but we fought through adverse economic and operational conditions in our municipality so that we can have our city, Ayia Napa and our island, Cyprus where they deserve to be. We believed that with this unique diving museum visitors will be able to enjoy an underwater oasis, which can improve our visitors’ experience while offering a new opportunity to include this destination in our preferences and explorations. Nothing is impossible with cooperation, strong vision and love, both for our municipality and for the new generation. We can set goals and achieve them”. "I took over as mayor of Ayia Napa in 2013 with
MUSAN IN AYIA NAPA IS NOW OPEN IMAGES © MUSAN / @JasondeCairesTaylor © MUSAN / Costas Constantinou Video: © MUSAN / Gorka Leclercq
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a vision to make it the best and most cosmopolitan tourist resort in the Mediterranean until 2030. To realize our vision we implemented the Integrated Tourist Experience strategy, with the aim to offer our visitors experiences and memories so that upon their return home they would carry “a piece of Ayia Napa with them” and of course the will to come back to us, thus creating repeat visitors. With this target we begun transforming Ayia Napa into a city of experiences, parks, monuments and landmarks. In this strategy it was paramount to create underwater landmarks so as to grow our diving tourism numbers. I’m positive
that every visitor of the underwater park, upon returning home, will take a little bit of Ayia Napa with them”. At the new Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa, visitors can tour an underwater forest with 93 works of art by Jason deCaires Taylor, inspired by nature and humans. At the same time, the museum is a work of art in itself, in which nature will be an artist and will make its own interventions, over time. The sculptures have been designed and made with materials that attract marine life, and are placed at different depths, thus creating a suitable substrate for marine life at all levels. The sculptures are made of inert materials, with neutral pH, so as not to adversely affect the area. It’s a sandy area, 200 meters from the coastline of Ayia Napa and it is expected that over time the biodiversity of the area will be enriched, thanks to the museum. Museum visitors can be divers, but also swimmers with mask and snorkels. The entire project is a water journey into the relationship between man and nature, as created by the renowned Jason deCaires Taylor. The artist uses his knowledge and skills as a sculptor, marine conservationist, underwater photographer and scuba instructor to create unique works of art, which respond to the place they are put and enhance marine life.
