The beautiful abandoned seaside ‘ghost town’ that’s now a haven for dark tourism

Varosha Cyprus.

Varosha was once beloved by Hollywood royalty of the 1960s. (Image: Getty)

Varosha in Cyprus was once popular with Hollywood royalty of the 1960s, such as Elizabeth Taylor, but then the town’s fortune changed. Now, it’s getting a second chance.

In July 1974, the Turkish army invaded northern Cyprus in response to an attempted coup a few days earlier. The invasion led to a mass exodus,s and 15,000 people left Varosha, abandoning their homes and businesses.

The buildings remained untouched for many years, cordoned off by the military. Once beautiful buildings were left to decay. The town was reclaimed by nature, with plants creeping into walls and pavements and sea turtles nesting on Varosha’s beaches.

This lasted until 2020, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, decided to reopen the area to visitors.

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Varosha Cyprus.

The town was abandoned during a Turkish invasion in the 1970s. (Image: Getty)

According to figures released on June 3, the ghost town has drawn more than 1.8 million tourists over the past four years.

But the Varosha of today and its visitors are a far cry from the bustling beach resort of the 1960s. The neighbourhood has now become a hotspot for dark tourism, attracting visitors to its history of death and tragedy.

Hubert Faustmann, a professor at the University of Nicosia, told : “The section found itself in the top tourist sites in terms of dark tourism, so they started to open up certain parts of Varosha, and it’s now a tourist destination with guided tours, with e-bikes, vehicles and coffee shops.

“Varosha is being used as a tourist destination, as a tourist attraction, without a single inhabitant prior to 1974 returning. It’s changed in the sense that it’s open to the public, but it’s not open for return.”

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Ahead of its reopening, Varosha has been spruced up, cleared of debris and now boasts amenities like canteens and beach umbrellas to serve tourists.

Just days after the release of tourism statistics, the political affairs and democracy committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) discussed Varosha’s situation in Oslo.

During the meeting, they reviewed a report by the PACE rapporteur for Varosha Piero Fassino, who had visited the ghost town in mid-May. Following his visit, the Italian politician expressed his hope that Varosha could be revitalised into a “living town” once more.

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