Near Famagusta, the ghost town Varosi was a unique sight for sure. The best way I can think of to describe it is an almost film-like apocalyptic town. Almost all buildings still standing but abandoned and slowly deteriorating. A fascinating observation is that the Varosi’s infrastructure from 1974 looks to have been near equivalent to Limassol’s now. This goes to show how far this set back Cyprus and demonstrates the impact the invasion has had on the country. Interestingly, the roads were well maintained still, for the purpose of tourism and restoration I’m sure, but surprising nonetheless. Another interesting observation is that there were active resorts and hotels on the beaches with plenty of guests, trying to propagate tourism in the area. The sight is once in a lifetime, seeing a fully developed ghost city with fully functional resorts on the beach with no other working infrastructure around. The easiest way to explain is by using pictures I took in the ghost town.
Famagusta is a redeveloping town that was hit hard by the Turkish invasion of 1974. Prior to it, Famagusta was a flourishing city, the second biggest in Cyprus at the time it was destroyed. Far before that though, Famagusta is home to the ancient Venetian city Salamis. In the 1300’s the Venetians reigned over Cyprus and built many magnificent works that still last to this day. Some of he more notable ones are the church, which is now used by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a mosque, as Islam took over as he dominant religion. The rings of walls outlining the city that still remain are a great measure to help picture the old city. However, the icing on the cake is that ruins from the 1300’s all the way through the 1800’s can sprinkled throughout the city and are built around as a part of the city’s infrastructure. The town is now almost entirely a tourism location and uses such as the primary economic source. Additionally, as opposed to the south, northern Cyprus seems to be filled with stay dogs instead of cats. My friends and I even befriended a few of them with feeding them with meat we didn’t eat.
Today we were joined by our tour guide, Dmitra, who shared some gems of history with us to help us understand more about Famagusta and the surrounding area. Famagusta is the city closest to the conflict between Cyprus and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Famagusta was the area afflicted by the conflict the most back in 1974. The result of the invasion can be best described as decimation and displacement of famagusta and its people. Slowly, on the Cypriot side of the buffer zone has developed quite nicely in recent years due to its exports of red potatoes and tourism. Over 80% of potato exports in Cyprus come from the area. Because of this recent influx of capital for the towns, they have an infrastructure instability with almost half and half brand new buildings and road mixed with 50 year old ones dispersed throughout.
