In the old town of Famagusta, you can see the ruins of a large number of Christian churches. During the reign of the Genoese and Venetians, the Churches of Famagusta were the adornment of the city. It was believed that the wealth of the city can be estimated by the number of churches, and Famagusta had no equal. It was called "The city of 365 churches".
In the early years of the Lusignan dynasty, Famagusta was a small commercial town. After the fall of Tyre and Accra in 1291, the crusaders were finally driven out of the Holy Land, and a significant part of them settled in Famagusta. Merchants were granted the right to trade duty-free, and the city became one of the main trading ports in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The wealth of Famagusta`s merchants and shipowners grew year by year, and many of them began construction churches. In just two centuries, more than three hundred of them were built on a small piece of land inside the fortress walls. This concentration of churches can be compared to the towers of Bologna. There, rich families considered it their duty to build a tower, and their tower should be higher than the tower of their neighbor.
Unfortunately, only a small part of the Churches of Famagusta have survived to this day. Most of them are in ruins. The main Gothic Cathedral of St. Nicholas, where kings were crowned as kings of Jerusalem, was turned into a mosque. A minaret was built over its left tower. The exterior architecture remained unchanged, while inside all sculptures and images of people were removed.
Of the other churches of Famagusta, the best preserved is the Gothic Church of Saints Peter and Paul. It was built at the expense of a rich Syrian merchant, Simon Nostrano. The Church has a very massive structure with elements of Gothic and Byzantine style. After the capture of Famagusta, the Turks turned it into the Sinai Pasha mosque. During the British rule, the mosque was used as a grain warehouse. It became known as the Wheat mosque. Then a library was opened here. Various exhibitions are also held here now. The walls of the Church are so massive that it has been preserved to this day in very good condition.
Near the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, there are ruins of the high Cathedral of St. George, which was built in 1360-1370. It also combines elements of the Gothic and Byzantine architectural styles. It was destroyed by Turkish artillery during an assault in 1570, as well as during later earthquakes. In other places, the churches of Famagusta are also preserved, but mostly in ruins.
