2022-2023 Cyprus Country Report

CYPRUSCOUNTRY REPORT 2022
HISTORY
Cyprus has been coveted, conquered and colonised numerous times during its
10,000-year history. The island attracted the interest of a succession of dominant
powers in the region, which battled for it through the millennia. The first of these are
believed to have been the Achaean Greeks who arrived in around 1200 BC introducing
their language, religion and customs to the island. Cyprus was subsequently colonised
by the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Persians. In the 4th century
BC, Alexander the Great claimed the island, which remained part of the Greek-Egyptian
kingdom until 30 BC, when the Romans arrived, and Cyprus became a senatorial
province. It was during this period that Saint Paul was said to have visited the island and
converted the Roman governor to Christianity. Cyprus remained a Roman possession
until the empire began to disintegrate in 330AD, when it became part of the Eastern
Roman or Byzantine Empire.
In 1191, Cyprus was conquered by the English king, Richard the Lionheart, while on
his way to take part in the Third Crusade. He later sold the island to the Knights Templar,
who consequently sold it on to the Franks or Lusignans, a dynasty which went on to
rule Cyprus for almost 300 years, until the last of the Lusignans ceded the island to
Venice in 1489. Despite building heavy fortifications around the island’s major cities of
Famagusta and Nicosia, the Venetians were not able to withstand the invading Ottoman
troops who conquered the island in 1571. Cyprus remained under Ottoman rule until
the arrival of the British in 1878.
The island’s long history offers visitors
IThe island’s long history
a journey of discovery paved with ancient
archaeological treasures. The ancient offers visitors a journey of
city-kingdoms of Kourion and Amathus,
discovery paved with ancient
and the Mosaics of Paphos, are considered
among the finest mosaic floors in the archaeological treasures.
Eastern Mediterranean. Other must-see
historic sites include the Neolithic settlements of Choirokoitia and Kalavasos-Tenta,
the Tombs of the Kings and the famous Sanctuary of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love,
who legend claims was born on this island.
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