MELISSA HEKKERS: Looking deep into Famagusta [OPINION]

Set to take a walk through the walled city of Famagusta in a scorching heat wave, Okan Dagli, Famagusta Initiative activist and member, smiles at the prospect that we will only be able to cover a small part of the enchanting city in the one hour we have to spare.

Founded in around 274 BC, the port, incidentally the deepest one of the island, once rivalled Constantinople and Venice. It was ruled by a succession of conquerors over several centuries, the traces of which can still be seen dotted around the city.

After quenching our thirst, we left a small café set in the old grocery market of a city that rose to fame after a large number of Christians resettled here, following the fall of Acre, and transformed it from a tiny village into one of the richest cities in Christendom. The Saint Nicholas Cathedral on Famagusta’s main square marks our way.

“This is a Lusignan house that was restored into a school and this is a column from Salamis, to which Ottomans added elements,” points Dagli as we begin to feel the realms of the city’s history.

“And this is a Franciscan church, it’s another community that came to Famagusta. A lot of communities came to Famagusta: Armenians, Byzantines, Latin, Carmelites, French,” adds Dagli as he points to the remains on the Turkish Baths left behind from the Ottomans.

Notably, it was in the 13th century that the town flourished and became a centre of commerce for both the East and the West.

“All the churches, and all the monuments, belong to the 13th century,” attests Dagli. “During the 13th century, Famagusta was the richest city of the world, the queen of the Mediterranean,” he adds.

Because of all this, getting to know Famagusta inside-out would take quite some time. In the meagre hour we have, Dagli walks us through several of the most important monuments of the walled city.

Saint Nicholas Cathedral

The remains of a Venetian palace stand across the square from the Saint Nicholas cathedral where the Queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, used to welcome her people from the tip of one of the towers.

Originally known as Saint Nicholas’ Cathedral and later as the Ayasofya (Saint Sophia) Mosque of Magusa, The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque is the largest mediaeval building in Famagusta.

Built between 1298 and 1400, it was consecrated as a Catholic cathedral in 1328. The cathedral was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire captured Famagusta in 1571 and remains a mosque to this day.

“This tree is now 700 years old, it was plan-ted when the Cathedral began its construction,” points out Dagli, “that’s what they used to do, when they began construction, they put a Ficus tree next to the cathedral they were building, it’s the same age as the cathedral.”

Remarkably, the French Lusignan dynasty ruled as Kings of Cyprus from 1192 to 1489 and brought with them the latest French taste in architecture, notably developments in Gothic architecture. “The minaret of this mosque is important because it’s the only minaret in the world that is in the gothic style,” says Dagli.

The Venetian Palace

The prominence of the remains of the Venetian governor’s Palace, once known as the Palazzo del Provveditore, is grand as one gets to walk through the internal courtyard of the premises and imagine the presence it must have had in the past.

Yet, the Ottoman siege of 1571 that followed the Venetian rule of the island was also followed by more than three centuries of neglect, compounded by serious earthquakes and floods, which left the large sections of the city in ruins by the time the British arrived in 1878.

“The Palace collapsed because in 1735 there was a big earthquake here, and a lot of buildings, monuments and church collapsed,” Dagli notes.

Namik Kemal Dungeon

As you enter the courtyard, one notices a building on the right-hand side. “This building belonged to Namik Kemal, a big Turkish poet that was sent to Famagusta for prison in the 19th century,” explains Dagli. “He was against the Ottomans and the padisha, in Turkish padisha means king, sent him to Famagusta,” he adds. “He stayed for about three years, but he fixed the upstairs and he stayed upstairs, he was free in the whole city,” says Dagli.

Turned into a museum now, the historical building was originally part of the Palazzo del Provveditore (Venetian Palace), yet as it currently stands, the building was built during the Ottoman era. Eventually the building was reportedly used by the British authorities during the First World War.

As one leaves the courtyard of the palace, with empty window sills and high walls surrounding you, there are numerous remains of monuments apparent to the eye, the Turkish Baths, churches and cathedrals, smaller chapels, and houses, many of which have retained a colonial architecture, all set within the space providing a livelihood for the community still living within the walled city of Famagusta.

Schools, bars, cultural centres, bars and restaurants have been created in some existing structures, while other buildings have maintained their identity throughout the years.

“This building, our primary school has been a primary school for over 100 years,” says Dagli.

As we carry on walking, Dagli points to the twin towers as he calls them, the twin churches of the Templars and Hospitallers.

The twin churches

The Knights Templar formed one of the three great military orders of knighthood, founded in the 12th century to protect the pilgrims who flocked to Jerusalem after the First Crusade. At the head of the order was the Master of the Temple in Jerusalem until 1291, when, on the fall of the Latin kingdom, the headquarters of the order moved to Cyprus. “Famagusta belonged to the Knights Templar for one year in the 13th century,” says Dagli as he points to their emblem at the entrance of one of the churches.

Othello Castle

Then of course, there is the Othello Castle, also known as Othello’s Tower, which stands aside the port and along the Venetian walls of the city, and has recently hosted prominent cultural events that draw people from both sides of the divide.

The castle, originally built by the Lusignans in the 14th century was later modified by the Venetians. Indeed, after the opening of Saint George’s Church and several ceremonies performed which attracted some thousands of Greek Cypriots back to the city, the Othello Castle has also been witness to some new, or should I say old, comers to its vicinity. Just one of the elements that makes this city such a time warp and an intriguing walk back into the past.

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