If you are looking for a break on the way from northern Nicosia to Famagusta, the Degirmenlik turning has the best cluster of roadside cafés.
Degirmenlik, which is about 15 km northeast of Nicosia, is the largest of a half a dozen mud-brick villages that cluster around a perennial stream that flows from the mountain spring. Until the last century it had a vital strategic role, for the valley ground all of Nicosia's flour at its three dozen mills. Now, there is just one mechanized flour mill at Bashpinar, at the head of the valley, though picturesque stone arches of the old mill-races punctuate the villages.
In summer, the valley has an additional charm of being a fertile oasis in the midst of mud-brick houses, barren hills, and the scorched fields of the Mesaoria plain.
The springs have assured a continuous history of settlement: archeologists have identified Copper Age sites, the Iron Age citadel of Chytri and a sanctuary at Gökhan (Voni), though it was a local ploughman who unearthed the famous bronze statue of the Roman Emperor, Septimius Severus.
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