Theatre and Carnival Museums (Panos Solomonides Center)
A museum from an exam question, and Limassol’s biggest festival
The story
In the old center of Limassol, a former lithography workshop was bought with a donation from Panos Solomonides and turned into a cultural center, which opened in 2010. In 2012 the Cyprus Theatre Museum opened here. It is built on the theater archive of Nikos Nikolaidis, an optician and amateur actor, who gave his collection to the city in 1987. The exhibition runs from ancient theaters to the present day. In 2025 the interactive Limassol Carnival Museum opened on three floors of the same center, on the initiative of the municipality. Carnival celebrations in Limassol last eleven days. They begin on Tsiknopempti, “Smoky Thursday,” when people grill meat. The main event is the Grand Parade on the last weekend before Clean Monday.
The Cyprus Theatre Museum is in Limassol, not Larnaca. In the question “which museum is in Larnaca” it was a wrong option; the correct answer is the Pierides Museum. Limassol is the carnival city: the festival opens on Tsiknopempti, and the main event is the Grand Parade.
Visiting
Theatre Museum: Mon, Wed, Thu 9:00–13:00; Tue and Fri 9:00–13:00 and 16:00–19:00; Sun 10:00–14:00 by appointment only; closed Saturdays and holidays; ticket €3, students and pensioners €2. The Carnival Museum is free: Mon–Fri 9:00–13:00; sources differ on Saturday (the museum website says 10:00–13:00, visitcyprus says closed). Check the hours before you visit.
On the way
Sources
- Θεατρικό Μουσείο Κύπρου — Ιστορία / History (official museum website)
- Limassol Carnival Museum — home page (official museum website, an initiative of Limassol Municipality)
- Δήμος Λεμεσού — Το Λεμεσιανό Καρναβάλι (Limassol Municipality)
- Deputy Ministry of Tourism — Cyprus Theatre Museum
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