Wherever you travel in North Cyprus, the history comes alive; For nine thousand years, Cyprus has been a melting pot of great civilisations; from the Neolithic settlements on the northern coast to the Egyptian, Persian, Roman, Venetian, Ottoman and British Empires. It's strategic location at the cross-roads of East and West has bestowed on the island with a rich and colourful history spanning for centuries.

During the course of its vibrant past, the island has been visited by the Romans, Alexander the Great and Richard the Lion Heart, to name a few, each leaving its own unique footprint.  

For a good sense of how it all began, the island’s museums are well worth a visit for their fascinating array of artefacts discovered in cave dwellings dating from 7000BC, when the first inhabitants of Cyprus are said to have settled.

From 3000-700 BC, Cyprus began to emerge as a trading centre, with copper mines drawing merchants from all across the Mediterranean.   Attracted to the growing opportunities, settlers arrived from Anatolia and Phoenicians from Syria, bringing new Levantine architecture, ceramics and metal working to the island.

In the 6th Century BC, the Persians adopted Cyprus as a base for their wars with Greece until 333 BC, when Alexander the Great brought the Persian Empire to a sudden end.   This was followed by rule of the Ptolemies of Egypt which lasted for 250 years until 48 BC, when Rome was able to annex the island.   But it was merely a few years later that Julius Caesar gave the island back to his lover, Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies, and only upon her death was Emperor Augustus finally able to add Cyprus to the lands of the Roman Empire.

Between the 1^st and 10th Centuries, multiple communities continued to emerge on the island, with Muslim and Byzantine settlers coexisting in relative harmony.   However, all this came to a halt in 965 AD, when the Byzantines took full control of the island upon defeating the Muslim Caliphate’s Egyptian fleet.

Byzantine rule lasted until the 12^th Century, upon which King Richard the Lion-Heart prevailed, handing the island to Guy de Lusignan, a member of French Medieval Royalty, to finance his expeditions.   The Lusignans, inhabited the island for 300 years, from the 12^th Century until 1489, when the Venetians captured the island with the impressive Girne Castle, as well as the celebrated architecture of Gazimağusa (Famagusta) and Lefkoşa (Nicosia), which are all well worth a visit.

The Ottoman period in Cyprus began in 1571 and lasted for more than three centuries, during which time the two Cypriot communities, Turkish and Greek, began to emerge.   It was during this time that the British were granted the right to govern Cyprus for the Sultan in an agreement dating back to 1869 which lasted until the end of the First World War. In 1960 the Treaty of London and Zurich were signed to give independence to Cyprus as a partnership state between the Turkish and Greek Communities of the island. The guarantors of the new state were Britain, Greece, and Turkey.  However, in 1963 relations between the two communities separated by language, culture and religion, had deteriorated and civil war began.   The United Nations sent in troops in an attempt to restore peace, creating the Green Line, which effectively divided the two communities.

In 1974 Greece attempted a military coup in conjunction with the Greek Cypriot National Guard in a bid to achieve ENOSIS (Idea of union with Greece), thus Turkey, after consultation with Britain, intervened militarily to protect the Turkish Cypriot community, in exercise of the guarantor powers.

Since these events, the island has remained divided, and in 1974 North Cyprus began its journey towards independence, with today’s Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) being formally established in 1983. It is a fully democratic state and internal peace subsists. On 23 April 2003, the borders between the North and South were opened and it is now also very easy to get around the whole island, making North Cyprus a truly excellent destination for those who dream of a holiday steeped in history.

As you explore the island, you will enjoy the enduring echoes of its multicultural heritage.

BACK