The ancient city of Salamis became the capital of Cyprus as far back as 1100 BC. The city shared the destiny of the rest of the island during the successive occupations by the various dominant powers of the Near East, viz. the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. The ancient site covers an area of one square mile extending along the sea shore. There is still a large area awaiting excavation and this is forested with mimosa, pine and eucalyptus trees.

The finding of some gold coins bearing the name of Evagoras, 411 to 374 BC, is the first genuine evidence of the city's importance. A severe earthquake destroyed the city in 76 AD after which the Gymnasium with its colonnaded Palaestra was built by Trajan and Hadrian. This is the most monumental part of the site but columns differ in size because after the second great earthquake of 331 AD, the Christians set up new columns which they dragged from the Roman theatre. 

The theatre with 50 rows of seats and a seating capacity of 15,000 is the second most spectacular sight. All around the buildings that have been excavated are many niches which contained marble statues, and those that can be seen are headless. When Christianity was adopted as a state religion, all these nude statues were to them an abhorence, and were thrown into drains or were broken up. In fact, any indications of Roman pagan religion such as mosaic pictures were effaced or destroyed.

 The Romans had an obsession about baths, and in the Great Hall buildings one can make out the Sudatorium (hot baths), the Caldarium (steam bath) and Frigidarium (cold baths). Before the Christian period, ie. before 400 AD, it was quite a colourful city; the marble columns were covered with coloured stucco, coloured statues, and numerous polychrome mosaics of which only a few are left. It was during the Christian period that walls with rectangular towers at regular intervals were built, but all that one can see of these today are mounds of sand dunes. 

The late Roman period after 400 AD up to about 1100 AD is known as the Byzantine epoch, when the first great Christian churches, called basilicas, were built. The visitors should see the St Epiphanos and Campanopetra, for they are the largest churches in Cyprus. 

About 674 AD, Arab invasion brought about the destruction of the entire city and the inhabitants fled south to build the medieval town of Famagusta (Magusa). There must have been a great change in the climate as the city was overwhelmed with sand, and only the tops of the columns peeped above. Coins of the Middle Ages, Lusignan period, were found around the basilicas, from which one can conclude that squatters lived in the ruins perhaps up to about 1300 AD.

For the next six hundred years the ancient site was looted and regarded as a quarry for building. During the Venetian occupation of Famagusta, many columns and pieces of sculpture were dragged from the site. The constant looting was not halted until 1952 AD when organised excavations by the Department of Antiquities began. 

 The archeological site is the most spectacular in the island because the ruins are very extensive and are in a wonderful state of preservation. For more than a thousand years, the Roman city of Salamis lay buried in sands which saved the site from wanton destruction in the Middle Ages. It must be remembered that all the ancient ruins in Europe were -free for all- quarries for the builders of the medieval castles. It was not until the late 19th century that various governments formed departments of antiquities which began keeping a watchful eye on ruins. In a similar way, Pompeii lay buried in volcanic ash, and was also saved from vandalism. As Pompeii is to Italy, so is Salamis to Cyprus. 

The cathedral of St. Nicholas / Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque is the largest medieval building in Famagusta and was commenced in 1300 AD. It must be noted that the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages often took more than 100 years to complete, so was St. Nicholas was completed about 1400.

The Gothic style of architecture closely resembles closely the great cathedral of Rheims in Paris, France. Similarly, St. Sophia in Nicosia (now Selimiye Mosque) and Bellapais Abbey all seem to be the work of French architect, and this is understandable when one realises that the Kings of Cyprus from 1190 to 1489 were all of the French Lusignan dynasty who, at least in their churches, "Frenchified" Cyprus.

The main facade of the building is the west front and this is shown in the picture. There are three large gabled and canopied doorways as can be seen in the picture, the vast amount of carved stone work being very impressive.

Above the main central door is a large wheel window set in decorative tracery, a common feature of French cathedrals and known asa rose window. There is a similar rose window in the refectory hall at the Bellapais Abbey. The upper parts of the two towers suffered damage during the Ottoman bombardment of 1571 and when the Ottoman Turks captured the town from the Venetians, the cathedral was converted into a Mosque and a minaret was added.

The full name of the cathedral is the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque. In accordance with Muslim religion all images of the human form in stone, fresco, or in stained glass windows were removed or plastered over. However, all aspects of the Gothic tracery have been preserved. the canopied doorways of the west front are typical of French cathedrals. No doubt the niches on either side of the porch contained stone statues of Biblical saints as in Notre Dame, Paris. This style of ecclesiastical architecture is known as the "Decorative Period".
The interior is of course a Muslim prayer hall, the floor being covered with carpets, and all visitors must go round with the Imam. The main hall in a church is known as the nave, and here the Lusignans were crowned as kings of Cyprus. Tradition claims that they also received the crown of Jerusalem, as by about 1350 the Crusaders had failed to take Palestine and so these French knights came to Cyprus to set up a Jerusalem monarchy in exile!
The lancet windows were probably decorated with stained glass but it was unsafe to have wide windows as Cyprus suffers from severe earthquakes. Also because of this, the nave had to be strengthened with flying buttresses.  In 1571, altars and tombs were swept away and all frescoes were plastered over but the guide will show visitors a few medieval tombs that have survived, in the north aisle.

Othello's tower is the medieval fortress or citadel guarding both the harbour and the town of Famagusta. This is referred to in one of Shakespeare's plays in which Othello is described as a Moor. This is not so; it is the name of a Venetian governor of 1506. However, Shakespeare knew little about Cyprus and had never been there. The entrance to the tower is shown in the picture and is pierced through the Venetian fortifications which date from between 1500 and 1550.

Above the gateway is a marble slab on which sculptured the badge of Venice, a winged lion, so frequently seen in other parts of Cyprus such as in Kyrenia Castle, Nicosia, and Bellapais Abbey. Inscription on the marble reads `Nicolo Foscarini, the Venetian Captain', together with the Venetian lion of St. Mark.

An aerial view would show the shell of the medieval castle inside the Venetian Walls and an imaginary sketch of this is shown here. As a result of the inventions of gunpowder and cannon, the Venetians altered the castles in order to suit the needs of their artillery. Usually they did not destroy the old walls, they were far too thick, but the old square towers were replaced with round ones.

It should be obvious that a rectangular tower could easily have its corners knocked off by gunfire. Wherever the old walls were preserved, they were pierced by gunports. On entering the courtyard of the citadel there are some interesting old cannon lying on the ground. One of them is made of bronze and is in excellent condition after being out in the wind and rain for 400 years. It is Spanish, and this kind of alloy metal was much favoured by the Spaniards in their great galleons. Cannon were fired by a red hot poker inserted into a hole at one end, but sometimes, owing to faulty methods of casting, guns exploded and then there was a nasty accident. The Turkish cannon had iron rings along the muzzle and can be seen in the courtyard. There are some cannon balls lying about and most are of cast iron.

Inside the Walls is the Great Hall, and with the large kitchen at one end, it is presumed that this was the refectory or dining hall. It dates from about 1300 and is massively constructed with a vaulted roof supported by tall Gothic arches. Windows were usually very small for defence purposes and no glass was used, pieces of cloth or carpets kept out wind and rain. However, in those times it could be a quite comfortable place with fine tapestries on the wall and huge fires blazing away at one end, where the whole carcass of a moufflon could be roasted. Not faroutside the town there is vast interior plain of Cyprus known as the Mesarya and here the nobles were hunting.

Steps lead up to the embattlements where there is a fine view of both ancient and modern harbours. Modern ships still use the same harbour entrance as it was in the golden age of Famagusta, 1300 to 1400 A.D. In those times harbours were defended by a huge iron chain slung across the water, and just by the entrance, and the opposite the Citadel, can be seen a clump of rocks on a promontory where there was the chain tower. The chain was lowered into the water when enemy ships were in the offing. The other harbour in Northern Cyprus, Kyrenia, was also defended by chain and there the chain tower still stands in the middle of the harbour.