Famagusta and almost 40% of the Cyprus Republic is occupied illegally since 1974 by Turkey after the treasonable coup organized by CIA, the Greek Junta and their extreme-right cooperators here in Cyprus. We will never forget our origins, the town where we were born. We will never forget who gave the excuses and the reasons for the Turks to invade. We will never forget the tragedy of the invasion and the drama of the refugees, the enslaved and the missing persons.

The Origins

Salamis is an island in the Saronic Gulf, which became part of Attica in classical time. The small island in the Aegean next to Attica was the home of the mythical hero Ajax and his half-brother Teucer who founded Salamis of Cyprus. The ancient playwriter Euripides was also born in Salamina. Salamis was generally on good terms with the Athenians and provided them ships and refuge. The island is perhaps best known for being the location of the sea battle where Xerxes' (Persian King) fleet was destroyed by the combined Greek forces in 480 BC.

The history of Salamis is a long one, and is documented in the narrations of the Greek historian Herodotus and the speeches of the Greek orator Socrates. Cychreus was the first king of the island, who had named the island after his mother Salamis. Telamon was the King of Salamis when the Trojan War began. His son, Ajax, led twelve ships to Troy among his half-brother Teucer. Telamon exiled his son Teucer, because he could not prevent Ajax from committing suicide during the war.

Salamis Of Cyprus

Teucer migrated to the island of Cyprus, and founded the city, which named Salamis, after his home. The region round the bay of Salamis is one of the most favored in the whole island and Salamis city became the capital of Cyprus as far back as 1100 B.C. The city shared the destiny of the rest of the island during the successive occupations by the various dominant powers of the Near East as the Assyrians, Phoenicians. Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. Under King Evagoras (411-374 BC) Greek culture and art flourished in the city. King Evagoras seized power from Phoenicians that ruled the city for many years. His concern was to reinforce the Greek character of Salamis and he accomplished that by employing Greek philosophers and teachers. At that time, Salamis became for once more the leading power among the kingdoms of Cyprus. The finding of some gold coins bearing the name of Evagoras, 411 to 374 B.C., is the first genuine evidence of the city's importance.

The remnants of the antique city of Salamis can be found only a few miles north of the city of Famagusta. Salamis is an extensive site and the most impressive remains are the theatre of 15000 seating capacity and the gymnasium. The others are the palestra (vast exercise ground with marble columns) and the sadatorium (or sweating room). The ancient site covers an area of one square mile extending along the seashore. There is still a large area awaiting excavation and this is forested with mimosa, pine, and eucalyptus trees.

Salamis and Christianity

Among the Twelve apostles of Jesus Christ was a Cypriote Jew, native of the ancient city of Salamis, named Joseph Hal Levi, or the Levite. He was an intelligent man, with a devotion proof against everything, and a fluent speaker. The apostles attached him closely to themselves and called him Barnavas, that is to say, "the son of prophecy (or consolation)". Next to St. Paul, he was the most active missionary of the first century. Paul, Barnabas, and a Christian named John Mark sailed from Antioch to Cyprus. They landed at Salamis on the island's eastern coast and spoke the word of God at various places, including synagogues (Acts 13:4-12). In that way, Salamis became the first city of Europe that received the Gospel.

After years of preaching, Barnabas would later return to Cyprus where worked hard for establishing Christianity until his death. The Church of Cyprus has recognized St. Barnavas as her founder. The monastery which bears St. Barnabas' name was originally built in the last part of the fifth century, to commemorate the discovery of his body, and the dignity and the seniority he brought to the early Christian Church of Cyprus. Parts of the early building have been preserved in the more recent church which was built by Archbishop Philotheos in 1756. The money for the purchase of the land on which the monastery was built, have been provided by the Byzantine Emperor at the time St Barnabas' body was found. The St. Barnavas' monastery is located near the town of Famagusta and is like the rest of the northern Cyprus occupied by the Turks since 1974.

Medieval Famagusta and Later Years

In the 4th cent. AD. Salamis was destroyed by an earthquake and Constantia was built to the south, close to the ruins. It was during that time that Arsinoe was built by the Ptolemies a bit further to the South of Salamis and started flourishing along with Constantia.

The late Roman period after 400 A.D. up to about 1100 A.D. is known as the Byzantine epoch when the first great Christian churches, called basilicas, were built. About 674 A.D. Arab invasions brought about the destruction of the entire city and the inhabitants fled north to build the medieval town of Ammochostos. There must have been a great change in the climate as the city was overwhelmed with sand, and only the tops of the columns peeped above (Ammochostos = covered with sand).

The name of Ammochostos is first found to be used during the Byzantine era as a substitute for the name Arsinoe, which gradually faded away. The Byzantine era lasted a thousand years and firmly established Cyprus as a part of the Greek Christian world. During the Frankish and Venetian domination, 12th to 16th centuries, Ammochostos - was called Famagusta by its new lords- became one of the East Mediterranean's largest ports.

The Ottoman Turks conquered Famagusta in 1571 after a long siege. Three years later, they forced all the Greek inhabitants out of the walled town. The displaced Greeks settled in the outskirts of the town and the new settlement, which with time grew larger than the walled city, was known by the name of Varoshia which means "suburb" in Turkish. However, "Famagusta - Ammochostos" has since survived as the official name of the whole town both old and new.

Famagusta The City

The city of Famagusta is one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean. One full day spent in Famagusta will reveal the history of Cyprus in a nutshell. Much of Cyprus is an outdoor museum, but only here is so much historical interest concentrated.

By the year 1300 A.D. the town was one of the principal markets of the Eastern Mediterranean, the rendezvous of rich merchants and the headquarters of many Christian religious orders as revealed by numerous churches of various denominations still to be seen in the town today. This was the time of the Crusades and when the rich Lusignan family ruled Cyprus, and hence the period 1200 to 1498 in Cyprus history is called the Lusignan dynasty. Ramparts, which encircle the town, protected Famagusta The castle named Othello's tower is guarding the harbor, which was the larger port in Cyprus before the Turkish Invasion. In Addition, Famagusta is the 'seaport in Cyprus' of Shakespeare's Othello: there is little doubt that the governor of the city in 1508, Christoforo Moro, is identifiable with Shakespeare's Moor. Due to this link, the citadel of old Famagusta, which bears the winged lion of Venice above its main entrance, is now known as 'Othello's Tower'.

The period 1300 to 1400 is known as the golden age of Famagusta and was regarded as such by visiting merchants, who brought back tales of fabulous wealth in the various places. After 1400, rival factions of Genoese and Venetian merchants settled there. The Genoese caused much strife until finally the Venetians took command of all Cyprus and transferred the capital from Nicosia to Famagusta in 1489. The Venetians were in command for 82 years and it was from Famagusta that the whole island was governed.

The Turkish armada arrived outside the town in 1570 and put it under siege for a year. In 1571 not only Famagusta, but also all Cyprus was under Turkish rule and remained so until 1878. The end of the British colonial rule in 1960 led to the independency of Cyprus. Famagusta was before 1974 the third largest town of Cyprus. Until 1974 Famagusta was a thriving city and home to well over 40.000 people, uprooted since by the Turkish invasion and thrown about all over Cyprus and in countries as far as Australia, England and the U.S. It still lies abandoned and fallow.

As capital of the largest administrative district of the country, Famagusta was the administrative, commercial, service and cultural center of the whole eastern Cyprus. The district of Famagusta before the 1974 invasion was characterized by a strong and balanced agricultural economy based on citrus, potatoes, tobacco and wheat. Its agricultural success and the communications between the town and the district ensured a proper population spread and balanced economic activity with could be considered as a model for other developing areas. It was inevitable then that the material progress described above would spawn and sustain the most fertile kind of cultural activity in the area with Famagusta as its hub and center. Painting, poetry, music and drama were finding expression in innumerable exhibitions, folk art festivals and plays enacted in the reconstructed ruins of the Ancient Greek Theatre of Salamis. By 1974, Famagusta was offering its inhabitants the fruit of their common success. The pursuit of human happiness in a free, just and democratic society, rid of bigotry and prejudice, and fully shared by Greek and Turk alike in their common identity as Cypriots was by 1974 the prime characteristic of Famagusta and its people.

Today Varosha (the Greek suburbs) is no more than an empty ghost town. It lies in a UN zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied areas. As the occupants fled from the fighting and the napalm of the Turkish invasion, Varosha remained empty, as it became part of a no-mans-land between makeshift borderlines. Washed clothes were left drying on washing lines - electric lights were left burning for years until the bulbs finally failed. In the current sporadic cross border talks, Varosha remains a bargaining counter - a symbol of the madness and the tragedy of those awful summer days of July 1974.

Famagusta remains waiting for its legal inhabitants to go back to their homes, to the land of their ancestors. New Salamis longs to contest in Famagusta where it all began, beside our motherland of ancient Salamis.

"Stay covered Ammochostos, in the sand, like a rare seashell" until you receive your children again in your blessed land.