GHOST TOWN OF VAROSHA

Called Varosha in English, Maraş or Varoşa in Turkish and Βαρώσια/Varosia in Greek, this district of Famagusta is located near the southern zone, under the control of the Turkish army. Established in the 1960s, it was briefly the chicest corner of Cyprus, its immense sandy beach welcoming tourists and stars from all over the world such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Brigitte Bardot. But on August 15, 1974, in a matter of hours, all the tourists and inhabitants, mostly Greek Cypriots, fled when Turkish soldiers arrived. Varosha remained abandoned, frozen in time with its hundred or so empty hotels, some of them riddled with bullet holes. In 2020, against the advice of the United Nations, Turkey decided to partially reopen Varosha: you can swim on two stretches of beach and cycle around part of the ghost town (2.3 km, 15 TYR for 2 hours) under the constant surveillance of plainclothes policemen, soldiers and cameras... The experience is strange, to say the least... It is forbidden to enter the buildings, which have been extensively looted by the occupants. The Turkish officers and non-commissioned officers have two restaurants overlooking the beach. For tourists, it is not possible to venture any further south on John Fitzgerald Kennedy Avenue. This runs for 4 km along the shore between the "Villa Sophia Loren", where the Italian actress stayed several times, and the Golden Sands, the largest hotel in Cyprus, inaugurated by President Makarios on May 8, 1974.