Melih SULAR

 

If the first thing you look for when you enter a city is history and culture, you need to plan your route to see Famagusta, a city in the Turkish Republic  of Northern Cyprus that has lived with history and accumulated thousands years long cultural heritage.  

This city that was named as ‘Mağusa’ during the Lusignan period and known as “Famagusta” by the Franks still has a debated identity, its name ranging from “Magosa, Mağusa, Gazimağusa and Famagusta”, and being a multicultural city at the intersection of the old and the new.

As you start examining the map in your hand, you start experiencing the city with awe as you notice that tens of historical artefacts and values are packed within this small map that fits you back pocket when folded.

            If you like the hidden secrets in the backrooms of history, you can make sure from now that even if you do not have a guide, this city will provide you with wonderful memories and stories that only you will be able to uncover.

            The most important of all these stories is Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, which is centred in the middle of the Lusignan walls that surround the city with a length of 3km and a height ranging from 18-9 m with a ditch at a width up to 46 m in addition to various bastions, ramps, doors, braziers, arsenals, storerooms and barns.

           

            This Gothic work of art that was built in the Lusignan period was changed into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire captured Cyprus in 1571. St. Nichols Cathedral, which was later turned into Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque with minarets added, is the most important monument and the symbol of the city as in the past many queens and kings were crowned there.

 

            With the story of this holy monument, it also has an incredible energy that has been blessed for centuries; it stands in earth tones in front of grizzled blue clouds in a profound shape that embellish the dreams of each painter or photographer. 

 

            We can walk around the Namık Kemal Square before entering this grand building. You can have sips from your tea at these historic venues. One of the things that you will not forget doing is to listen to te heartbeats of the city on a bench under the shadow of the historic tropic fig tree that was planned in 1298 when the construction of the cathedral started. 

            You can take photographs of the hidden stories of this tree that has thousands of rumours about it and has let the water in its veins to the roots of the mosque for the last 716 years and its relationship with the mosque; you can dream about its historical ties with the city and question why kings, queens, royals and commanders in the history wanted to own this structure as soon as they captured the city.

            Cities are where civilisations are born and grow. Sometimes, when you enter a city for traveling or business purposes, the first thing that welcomes you is the unique architectural style of that city and the buildings that are its embodiments.

            Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque is one of the most important living heritages of Famagusta. With its inner and outer structure and harmony with the city, it is an exemplary building among the ones of its kind.