On our way to Famagusta to visit the abandoned part of the city and the medieval city center, our guide Georga informed us of many interesting facts about the city and Cyprus as a whole. Some interesting things about the history of Cyprus is that in the 18-19th century many Christians converted to becoming Muslims due to taxes and the prosecution of many Christians. Famagusta used to be the tourist destination of the island before the Turkish invasion in the 1960s and 70s. It used to get 80% of the tourism on the entire island, now Fig Tree Bay and the surrounding area has become a tourism center of Cyprus. In the Northern part of Cyprus where Famagusta is located, officially 300k live in the area, but unofficially there are predictions that around 1 million live in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus. Also in the north there are around 500 churches and out of those 500 only 3 haven’t been looted during the Turkish occupation of the northern parts of the island.
While walking around the Varosha, abandoned parts of Famagusta, it was an eye-opening experience. Many of the buildings were still intact but fully gutted of anything inside. Many of the buildings still had their signs and Georga, our guide, was able to inform us of what the buildings were originally for and how herself and others who lived in Varosha before the invasion enjoyed the many small stores and places around the area. It’s only very recently that the Turkish army has started to allow people to visit Varosha and see all the abandoned buildings, it’s like a time capsule of what Cyprus’s tourism sector looked like in the 1970s. We also got a chance to walk around the Medieval center of the town of Famagusta, there were many shops and cafes within the center making it feel much like many of the other areas we have visited in Cyprus. One thing I found interesting about Famagusta is that although Famagusta does have a port that is currently active the only ships allowed into the port are those from Turkey due to the fact that Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey and no other country.