The old city is surrounded by one of the best preserved Venetian fortifications in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are plenty of medieval/renaissance buildings that can be visited. Unfortunately most of them were severely damaged during the Turkish siege of the city in 1571. Many cannon balls can still be seen in the fortification walls as well as in the walls of these buildings. Specially noteworthy are the Cathedral of St. Nicholas (converted to a mosque after the Ottoman conquest and re-named Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque) and St. George of the Greeks church with its frescoes. There is plenty more to see if you stroll around the old town, where there is something of interest in almost every corner. The southern part of the modern city (internationally known as Varosha, Tr. Maraş, Greek Varosia) has been closed to public and is controlled by the Turkish military. You can see the now ruined area from the beach at Palm Beach Hotel, but be careful not to take photographs or get too close to the fenced area. There are also classical remains at the site of Salamis, located to the north of Famagusta as you travel towards İskele (Gr. Trikomo). The Late Bronze Age city of Enkomi (Tr. Tuzla) is also worth seeing.
Bombed out building in Varosha
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Famagusta
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Famagusta - updated May 2024
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Famagusta Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
