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Cyprus has been settled since
pre-historic times and virtually
every Mediterranean civilisation
has left a cultural footprint
on the island. Its history reads
like a Who's Who of European
civilisation: Aphrodite chose
Paphos Cyprus as her first port
of call after emerging from
the sea, St Paul stopped off
here on his way to see the Emperor
Constantine, Shakespeare's Othello
was set in Famagusta Northern
Cyprus and Richard the Lion
heart chose to marry his fiancé
at Limassol Cyprus during the
crusades. In fact, Cyprus has
such a rich history that you
can hardly set your foot down
without inadvertently stepping
on an ancient monument.
Cyprus was first settled in
Neolithic times, but it would
be a few more millennia before
the island became known as a
trading post. Despite the island's
prosperity (or perhaps because
of it) things got off to a bumpy
start with Phoenicians, Egyptians,
Assyrians and Persians all fighting
over it. By the 4th century
B.C. Alexander the Great had
taken the island and it was
assimilated into his Greek-Egyptian
kingdom. As the civilisation
declined Cyprus was forgotten
about and it was left to the
Romans to pick up the pieces.
Cyprus became a senatorial province
and next appeared in the history
books with St Paul establishing
one of the first Christian ministries
on the island.
Cyprus' precarious geological
position again asserted itself
in 332 and 365 when violent
earthquakes destroyed many of
the towns. Although the Byzantine
Empire restored some degree
of former glory, repeated Arab
raids in the seventh and eighth
centuries devastated many coastal
settlements. The Middle Ages
saw Cyprus conquered by the
Knights Templar, the Lusignans
and the Venetians, who heavily
fortified a number of cities
before later losing them to
the Ottomans. The island then
slid into a long period of decline,
which only ended with the arrival
of the British in 1878.
Cyprus was formally annexed
by the British in 1914 and became
a crown colony in 1925. By this
time Cypriot passivity was beginning
to wear a little thin and British
refusal to listen to calls for
independence further escalated
the situation. The resulting
rebellion by Greek Cypriots
centred on a group named EOKA
who waged a guerrilla-style
campaign against British rule.
Inter-communal tensions between
the Greeks and Turks also began
to flare-up.
Independence in 1960 didn't
deliver the anticipated peace
and the newly formed Republic
of Cyprus looked doomed form
the start. By 1964 the island
was becoming a segregated mosaic
of enclaves as the island stumbled
from crisis to crisis. In 1974
attempts by the Greeks to mount
a coup against the Cypriot Archbishop
Makarios (the Republic's leader)
resulted in a Turkish invasion.
The Turks seized the northern
third of the island, forcing
180,000 Greeks to flee their
homes.
The Turks officially rubberstamped
'The Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus' in 1983; although the
country has yet to be officially
recognised by anyone else. A
referendum in 2004 saw the Greek
Cypriots rejecting an EU plan
for re-unification, so the island
looks set to remain one of the
most heavily militarised regions
on the planet.
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