Towards Varosha

Driving north from here, just by the tourist office, a wide road, previously known as Independence Avenue, leads off towards Varosha. Some 300m down this wide avenue on the left hand side, your eye may be caught by the little steam locomotive that stands just behind a wire fence. A plaque announces it was the first locomotive to be imported into Cyprus, in 1904. the little railway line on which it ran was the only one in Cyprus, built by the British, running from Gazima?usa via Nicosia to Morphou.There were passenger services, but very few Cypriots took advantage pf them, beign either too poor to afford a ticket, or content to travel more slowly by donkey or cart. The railway’s primary function was to transport the copper and chrome from the Skouriotissa mines to the port at Gazima?usa, from where they were from England by boat. By 1945 the railway began to fall into disrepair and diesel trucks were found to be more economical for transporting the copper ore. The last train ran in 1951.Following the road further south you soon come to the edge of Varosha, lying about 1km south of old Gazima?usa. Once the affluent Greek suburb Varosha, the ‘Monte Carlo of the Middle East’. Grew in the 1960s be far larger than the old walled town. While the Turkish walled town decayed, this fashionable resort of Greek Cypriots and expatriates mushroomed with hotels and holiday flats along the 6km (4mile) beach of Glossa, said to be the best beach in the eastern Mediterranean. By the early 1970s it had a population of 35,000, overwhelmingly Greeks. In march the annual Gazima?usa Orange Festival used to take place here, in which visitors were showered with as many oranges as they could eat. Varosha was famous for its orange groves and fertile gardens, and the district had so many windmills it was sometimes called the Town of the Windmills.Now fenced off and forlorn, it was evacuated in 1974 when the Turks captured it for use as a bargaining card in any future negotiations. There was no military necessity for its capture since no Turkish Cypriots lived there. On paper it is now in the hands of the Un, but in practice the Turkish Army uses one hotel as a barracks, another two as student hotels, and a further one as an officers club. Furniture looting still goes on, despite the fence, and as yoy peer inside you can spot many houses where boarded up doors have been forced, window frames ripper out, and weeds are growing up through the floor. It is difficult to see how this or any other property formely Greek could be returned. Here in Varosha, most of the houses would need total renovation and in some cases even demolition before starting again. Where Greek houses have been used and inhabited in other parts of the north, many have been sold on to foreigners who have since spent much money on restoration. After 1974 the Turkish Cypriots were given Greek houses under a government scheme in compensation for property and land they lost in the south. They were issued with a paper which gave them title to it and they were then at liberty to sell it. In some cases there have been several sales of the same houses since 1974 and o unravel all these transactions now would be a mighty task.You can drive south all the way along the edge of the fenced-off area, until you see the check-point barrier blocking your path: the Attila Line is just a kilometer or two beyond. You can return a slightly different way by forking off towards the sea whenever you can, hugging the Varosha fence throughout.Emerging near sea lagoon, you will see another cluster of simple restaurants facing out on to the modest yacht marina. On the headland beyond it is the luxury Palm Beach Hotel. Originally Greek-run and called the Constantia, the Palm Beach has been newly renovated and is the only high-standard hotel that remains accessible in this part of Varosha. The other once-famous hotels, like the Grecian, the Florida and the King George, are all within the fence. The Geek Cypriots, ever mindful of a commercial opportunity, run cruises from Ayia Napa for tourists to stand off and peer at the ghost city. They also organize minibus or taxi trips to a viewing platform at the village of Dherinia, from where Varosha can be discerned through telescopes and binoculars.The one official sight that tourists ca visit it Varosha is the Icon Museum. The museum is only open weekdays before 13.30 To reach here, from the Canbulat Gate drive south and continue straight on past the northern end of Fevzi Cakmak, ignoring the turn-off left towards the Palm Beach Hotel. Parking your car in the square next to the guard post, you can walk through the barrier to the museum, housed in a fairly modern Orthodox church of Maras. Northern Cyprus Hotels The icons are nothing special- most date from the last 50 years, with the oldest less than 300 years old-though the acoustics are impressive, particularly noticeable if one of the resident pigeons flies under the dome; that, and the feeling that you are penetrating into the heart of the militarized zone, make this short detour worthwhile.