Once the name Famagusta was associated with a first-class holiday in fashionable hotels on the shores of fabulously beautiful beaches of Cyprus. The cream of society from all over the world planned a trip to the resort of Varosha (the tourist mecca of the city) in advance, among them Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot. Businessmen from different countries invested in luxury real estate on the coast.
Everything changed in 1974, when, as a result of the military conflict between Turkey and Cyprus, Famagusta was captured by the Turks. The locals (Greek Cypriots) of the Varosha area were expelled, allowed to take hand luggage. As they left, they believed they would return in a couple of weeks, which stretched for almost half a century, during which the once paradise of the Varosha quarter of Famagusta turned into a ghost town. In the first years, it was looted, taken out of all valuables from houses and hotels, including window frames.
In fact, Varosha today is a neutral territory inside Famagusta, surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by Turkish soldiers and UN peacekeepers. For decades, Cyprus and Turkey have been unable to agree on the fate of the resort, using its territory to blackmail each other.
At the end of 2020, the news of the opening of Varosha for tourists flashed, which again excited the public. Formally, real estate (private houses and hotels) still belongs to the expelled Greeks, which was confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights, but the Turks promised that they would not touch the property of the previous owners, but would use only the beach.
