Epochs
Venice turned the island into an important frontier of its maritime system. We look for the Lion of Saint Mark, bastions, watchtowers and rebuilt city gates.
1489–1571
This short period left a highly visible architectural layer. The fortifications of Nicosia and Famagusta help explain how defensive design changed after the spread of artillery and why the Mediterranean became an arena of imperial rivalry.
Why did low, star-shaped bastions replace high circular medieval walls?
the Venetian Republic · maritime trade · artillery · Ottoman expansion
We photographed one of Cyprus’s most expressive Venetian watchtowers and the three coats of arms above its entrance.
One of the principal entrances to old Nicosia passes through the sixteenth-century Venetian walls.
Cats, snakes and a bell form one of Cyprus’s best-known legends in our personal retelling.
A stone church accompanies a brief account of Saint Nicholas and the development of the Santa Claus image.
The “black mountain”, a red hill, repeated fires and a restored icon are the main details of this chapter.
We include the Tzelefos, Elia and Roudia bridges as a way to see the history of trade in the landscape rather than in a museum.
We include the entire circuit of walls so that Famagusta Gate is not left as an attractive isolated façade without its military context.
We include Famagusta as the island’s second great centre of Venetian fortification.
