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North Cyprus Cities Lefkosa -Nicosia From the 7th Century BC, Lefkosa used to be a city named Ledra. Around 300 BC, Lefkosa the son of an Egyptian King –Ptolemy Soter rebuilt the city and it was renamed Lefkosa. Nicosia is the Frankish name for the city. In 1191, Richard the Lion Heart, king of England captured North Cyprus on the way to the Hold Land during the 3rd crusade. He married Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus. Richard sold Cyprus to the knights Templar after only 1 year. After a few months Cyprus was resold to Guy de Lusignan.From this time Nicosia was the capital city of Cyprus. During this time Nicosia grew in Size plus population. In 1489 the Venetians captured Cyprus and destroyed many of the Lusignan monuments, buildings and palaces. They used the masonry to build new walls to fortify the city against the Ottomans. One of the gates “Kyernia Gate” is still intact today. New buildings including mosques were built.Lefkosa is the Capital of the island. Kyrenia -Girne Achaean settlers founded Kyrenia in the 10th century BC.It was one of the 10 kingdoms of TRNC. After frequent Arab raids in the 7th century AD the Byzantines built the original Kyrenia castle and fortified the town.The castle was expanded later on by the Lusignans and the Venetians.By 1600 the town was in decline and only began to revive after British administration commenced.The British built a harbour and a quay.Under British rule Kyrenia was used as a resting place for officers, captains and their families.There are many restaurants and bars in the harbour and through out the town.The harbour has Kyrenia Castle and its famous shipwreck museum. Near by are the Icon museum, Folk art museum, Fine arts museum and several more interesting sites. The Tourist Information Centre is in the harbour and you can pick up free maps and postcards of the area. Gazimagusa/Famagusta Famagusta has the largest port in Cyprus and also the largest university. The ruins of Salamis lie to the North of Famagusta.The ruins included Roman bath, amphitheatre, royal tombs, gymnasium and beautiful mosaics. The name of the city in Turkish is Gazimagusa and in Greek Ammokhostos, which means buried in the sand. Famagusta is a Frankish corruption of its Greek name. It was founded in around 3080BC by an Egyptian king. It was transformed from a tiny village in to the richest cities in Christendom. When Christian refugees fleeing from Accra in 1291 populated the place. It has been conquered by Genoans, Venetians and in 1571 by the Turks. Under British administration the modern section called Varosha was developed as a tourist resort. Varosha at present behind the Green line in “No mans Land”. Guzelyurt Guzelyurt is situated northwest of TRNC. Guzelyurt area is proud of its citrus gardens and agriculture fields.East part of Guzelyurt starting from Akdeniz village until Middle East Technical University, pine forests covers quite big area. A progress project for Guzelyurt tourism area was approved last year. With the truism master plan 18-hole golf course and 18 5-star hotels are going to be built at west of Guzelyurt.So Guzelyurt will be golf and tourism centre. You will enjoy shopping in the old streets and benefit from quite cheap prices. There are two universities in the area. First Lefke European University is founded. Second university in the area is Middle East Technical University. |
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