The sayings and poems were shaped by a history of lack of medical facilities, inadequate treatments and absence of health prevention.

The walls of the main entrance hall (Iliakos) are lined with framed pictures displaying the history of medicine from antiquity, through the Middle Ages and early 1800s.

Among other exhibits are a phallic item believed to have been used in the treatment of female hysteria in ancient times, and a rare find: oil from the Larnaka salt lake which was used in skin wounds and insect bites.

An X-ray machine, an electronic EKG measuring instrument, an ob/gynaecological bench and a surgical table are among exhibits in room two.

A medical library with books in Greek, Cypriot, French and English is available to students or academic researchers.

There is a collection of some Cypriot healing herbs such as mint, basil, lavender, sage, melissa and marjoram.

[6] The house used to be a private residence, but the street where the museum is located had an unusually high number of doctors, nurses or pharmacists living there.

[8] The museum aims to reach any member of the public, of any age, and to facilitate exchange of information, learning and discussion on current health practices based on the past.

The haphazard arrangement of the exhibits mirrors human thoughts and actions, which may look random but have underlying order, a direction of evolution that leads life to progress from ‘simple’ to ‘complex’.

[9] The Medical Museum has organised the following cultural events: April 2012: ‘Strange Traditional Cypriot Treatments’, under the auspices of the Mayor of Larnaca, also broadcast on Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation channel 1[10] September 2013: ‘World Tourism Day’ events and practical demonstrations May 2013: ‘2000 years from the death of Apollonios of Kition’ under the auspices of the Cyprus Health Minister.

Several interested parties are now collaborating in order to prepare a complete collection of all Cypriot medical terms including anatomy, pharmacology and nursing.

Examples include baked lizards and gunpowder used in baldness, donkey manure in infections, and live mice in a variety of health recipes.

The collection, display and subsequent publication of medieval, Byzantian or early Cypriot literature with medical content.