Famagusta is one of the most important, greatly fortified ports on the shores of the Mediterranean. To the north of Famagusta lie the fabulous ruins of Salamis. This one great city is beleived to have been founded in the 11th century BC and after the influences of the many concuering nations -notably the Romans- the city was finally abondoned in 648 AD following the combined catastrophes of earthquake and raids by Arab pirates, when the population moved to Famagusta.

The spectacular ruins give a fascinating insight into long-lost civilizations and include a magnificent amphitheatre, Roman baths, a gymnasium and royal tombs. The mosaics are particularly beatiful. Just inland from Famagusta are the Church and monastery dedicated to St. Barnabas, the founder of the apostolic church on Cyprus in 45 AD. Barnabas a Cypriot from Salamis, visited the island accompanied by St. Paul and St. Mark and was later martyred in Salamis in 52 AD. The church of St. Barnabas is preserved exactly as it was since abondoned in 1976. There is a wonderful collection of 18th century icons and the monestry cloisters now houses an archeological museum.

The name 'Cyprus', of the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sardinia and Sicily is beleived to come from the 'copper', of which there was, and possibly still is, an abudance of on the island. The island of Cyprus has had a tumultous history, its strategic location on the crossroads of East and West has always caused invasions, conquests, and sstrife for its inhabitants. Before its annexation to Rome in 58 BC, Phoenicians, Archeans, Assrians, Egyptians, Persians and Greeks colonized Cyprus. However, the first inhabitants of the island date back much further - they are proved to have settled on the island around 8000 BC.

A major part of the populationof Cyprus accepted Christianity aroud 43 AD, and some three hundred years later Cyprus came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, after the division of the mighty Roman Empire. The Byzantine rule over Cyprus lasted until 1192, when Richard the Lionheart took possession of the island in revenge for misbehaviour by the rulers of Cyprus towards his fleet, which was on its way to the Third Crusade. After marrying Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus, where she was crowned the Queen of England, Richard sold the island to the Knight Templars, who soon sold it to Guy de Lusignan, the desoped King of Jeruselam. That marked the beginning of the Lusignan (Frankish) Period in Cuprus, during which the island was ruled on the feudal system, and the population was under severe suppression. The Lusignan Era ended when Queen Cornaro ceded Cyprus to Venice, in 1489. Venitians viewed the island as the last bastion against the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Mediterranean, so they left their mark in Cyprus by destroying many palaces and lovely buildings in order to surround the major cities with fortified walls, which at the time were considered works of art of military architecture. Although the Ottoman army captured almost all of Cyprus in 1570, with the help of these walls, the Venitians managed to hold their posts in Famagusta, where the Ottoman siege of the city lasted for more than a year, until late 1571. The Ottoman Period in Cyprus lasted for more than three hundred years, during which the Ottoman population of Cyprus gradually gained its own Cypriot identity, bringing to existence two communities in Cyprus instead of one; Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot.

In 1878, under the Cyprus Convention, the Ottoman Empire let Britain assume the administration of Cyprus in return for military aid against Russia. In 1914, Britain annexed the islan as the ottoman Empire joined the First World War on Germany's side. In 1925, Cyprus was declared Crown Colony.