Today we took a day trip to Famagusta, which was historically one of the great port cities in the Mediterranean. The city now lies in the occupied region in the north of Cyprus, while some of it also remains in the UN controlled buffer zone. The part occupied by Turkish troops is another fortified city (surrounded by masonry walls) like Nicosia, but not a regular circle with evenly spaced bastions. After taking an hour bus ride, we arrived on the coast and were immediately shocked at what we found. What we originally expected to be beach resort town immediately outside of the walls (which apparently does exist as a ghost resort town in the UN occupied zone) soon became a raw architectural history lesson. As you can see from the image, within the old city walls lie archaeological and architectural gems. Byzantine churches, old covered markets, as well as Crusader and Gothic Cathedrals create the skyline of the city and beg to be discovered. Soon, however, we realized/remembered that although these monuments are still standing, their accessibility and current state are not exactly as they were upon construction… The main the Gothic Cathedral has now been turned into the Lala Mustafa Pasa Mosque, while others remain locked up (Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul) or wide open to the elements (St. George of the Greeks).
However, in their current state, these churches are not on the top of most tourists’ lists and provide excellent examples from building techniques all throughout the history of Cyprus, the Mediterranean, as well as Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. My worry is that as the division of Cyprus continues, so will the deterioration of these precious monuments.
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