Famagusta on the east coast of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, was the first stop on our one-week self-driven tour. In mediaeval times (particularly under the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice), Famagusta was the country’s largest port city, trading with the ports of the Levant. In Turkish it is also called Gazimagusa which can be a little confusing. The old city is entirely surrounded by walls. The town has a very interesting and colourful history. Unfortunately, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Famagusta was bombed causing the entire Greek Cypriot population to flee into the surrounding fields. They have never returned. Many of the original Catholic and Greek orthodox churches have been turned into mosques.
Our first view of Famagusta citadel, outside the walls.
The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, originally known as the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas built in the 14th century
The entrance to the Palazzo del Provveditore, the Venetian palace of the governor, built on the site of the former Lusignan royal palace
Bougainvillea on the other side of the Palazzo del Provveditore
Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1359) was converted into a mosque in 1571 and renamed as the Sinan Pasha Mosque
One of the few remaining traditional Turkish homes
A door indicative of past splendour
It’s amazing to see how many churches there are in such a small town
The walls of the citadel
The modern mosque outside the citadel which woke us up at 5.17 am every morning!
What a place to get to explore!
Incredible buildings. I’m trying to imagine what the city was like all that time ago. So peaceful now.
Thanks for a chance of looking back into my own visit to Famagusta. Did you ever get the chance to see the beach and the abandoned row of hotels lining it? They have been left as they were in 1974.
I’m not sure if we specifically saw the abandoned hotels in Famagusta but we certainly saw a lot of abandoned hotels and houses in Cyprus.