Today was our last day in Limassol and it was very fun and informational. We explored more of Cyprus and learned more about the history and the impacts of the divide of the country. We first went to Varosi. Varosi used to be a very popular tourist location, but after the Turkish invasion, it became a ghost town filled with abandoned buildings. We had to pass through the Turkish checkpoint with our passports for us to be allowed to cross into the Turkish occupied side which was interesting to learn about. Walking through Varosi did feel like it was a ghost town. There was barely any noise except for people walking through the abandoned town and it looked overrun and unused. We got to see a little bit of the coast and once we saw the beach, we understood why Varosi was a tourist location. The water was beautiful and clear and you could see the the hotels lined up along the shore. The entire time that I was there, I was trying to imagine what it would have been like living in a place like that. It must have been beautiful when it was bustling with tourists and locals.

Next, we went to Famagusta. We learned that Famagusta had been controlled by many empires over the centuries. During the Venetian era, a palace was built for a high ranking authority figure. Over time there were many other empires that took control of the area and eventually it was under Ottoman rule. We learned that the palace was used as a location for people who did not agree with certain Ottoman rule and served like a dungeon. We also got to see a church that was converted into a mosque under Ottoman rule. It was absolutely stunning inside of the mosque. Walking throughout Famagusta and seeing the city inside the walls was another history packed lesson that kept me thinking how people in the past lived in these areas.

We ended the day at Fig Tree Bay. The beach was absoloutely gorgeous and the water was so clear. The sand was much softer than the beach we went to on Larnaca. It was a casual, fun, beach afternoon and then we headed back to pack our bags and get ready for moving to Nicosia tomorrow.

Throughout the trip, I’ve learned many things from Dimitra and Smaragda. The first thing is about the check points. I did not know that there would be check points where you needed your passport to get to the Turkish occupied side. As both were explaining it, I understood how this made Cypriots feel to have to use their passport to get to another part of the country. It affected the country deeply. Something else thatI found interesting that happened in Cyprus’s history was about the electrical naval base explosion. Explosives were kept at the base but not properly and due to the high heat of Cyprus, the explosives were set off and it created problems for Cyprus. They did not have electricity for a while and then only had electricity for certain time periods. Another thing that I thought put things into perspective was Smaragda telling us about how Cyprus was probably one of the first countries that was sad to gain it’s independence because they did not want to give up the fight to keep the country not divided. There is so much information that we learned about the history of Cyprus that has helped us understand the country more and broaden our knowledge as well.