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St Nicholas Cathedral

Lala Mustafa Pasa Mosque

The cathedral is known as one of the finest Gothic buildings in the Mediterranean world. Its foundation stone is known to have been laid in 1298 during the Lusignan rule and the construction lasted until 1312. the old tropical fig tree (Ficus Sycomorus) which stands by the entrance of the building is thought to have been planted here at the time that the work began. Until it became a mosque in 1571 a king of the island was first crowned as the King of Cyprus in St Sophia in Nicosia and then as the King of jerusalem in St Nicholas in Famagusta, the city being closer to the holy land.

The western facade of the edifice, which ic likened yo that of Reims Cathedral in France, is the best preserved and most attractive part of the building. On this side and above its porch a fine tracery window catches one’s attention. In its courtyard in addition to a Koran school there is a sixteenth sentury Venetian loggia (an open-sided arcade), which is used in the present day as the ablution area. Above the two round windows which flank its doorway the Venetian coats of arms have survived. The marble frieze decorated with frolicking animals and garlands is thought to have come from a Roman temple in Salamis.

Inside two rows of massive columns separate the nave from the aisles and suppart a vaulted. In the west there are two side chapels and a triple apsed choir. The rosette and lancet windows in the apse are also well preserved.

You can visit in Famagusta St. Barnabas icın and Archaeological Museum, The Akkule Mosque, enkomi (Alasia), Canbulat Shirne, Othello Tower, Salamis.