I visited Famagusta on the 1st of June, 2003.

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Before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Famagusta used to be the second biggest city in Cyprus (after the capital of Nicosia). It had the largest and busiest harbourin the Eastern Mediterranean, and it was the biggest income generator for the Government of Cyprus, and one of the principal markets of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Let's start from what is known to be the Golden Age of Famagusta. The period between 1300 and 1400 AD was regarded as such by visiting merchants, who brought tales of fabulous wealth. After 1400, rivals factions of Genoese and Venetian merchants settled here. The Genoese caused mush strife until finally the Venetians took command of all Cyprus and transferred the capital from Nicosia to Famagusta in 1489. The Venetians were in command of Cyprus for almost a century, and it was from Famagusta that the whole island was governed.

The invention of gun-power and the use of cannon made it necessary for the Venetians to remodel the entire defences for the use of artillery, the new type of warfare. Famagusta was protected by ramparts which encircled the town and the castle guarding the harbour. The square towers of the castle were then replaced with round ones and all along the walls numerous cannon portholes were inserted.

The Turkish armada arrived outside the town in 1570 and put it under siege a year later. In 1571 not only Famagusta, but the whole of Cyprus was under Turkish rule and remained so until 1878. The end of the British colonial rule in 1960 led to the Cyprus Independence, which was not properly supported by the powers mentioned in the Cyprus Treaty of Guarantee (i.e. Greece, Turkey and Great Britain). This led in turn in the intensification of inter-communal strife between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, which concluded in 1974 with the illegal invasion of Turkish forces and occupation of more than a third of the island.

Holidaymakers visiting Famagusta before 1974 were amazed by the town's long golden beaches backed by modern hotels, its modern football stadium and the busy streets of a living town.

Today, Famagusta is no more than an empty town. It lies in the UN zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied areas. As the occupants fled from the fighting and the napalm of the Turkish invasion, Famagusta remained empty as it became part of a no-mans-land between makeshift borderlines. Washed clothes were left drying on washing lines - electric lights were left burning for years until the bulbs finally failed.

I've heard so many stories about the beauties of Famagusta from my parents and grandparents. It is my life's long desire to visit the town and see all the places I was told about, the place and soil where my family lived for years.

Today, Famagusta remains a symbol of the madness and the tragedy of those awful days of July 1974, and a source of hope and strength for its people.