Beautiful seaside resort turned ghost town now a haven for ‘dark tourism’

Varosha was a seaside resort in Cyprus once popular with the Hollywood royalty of the 1960s, but has been left to decay since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974

**Varosha has been closed off to the outside world for decades** (Image: Getty Images)

By Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas News Reporter, Alice Scarsi

A beautiful seaside resort turned ghost town has now become a haven for ‘dark tourism‘ – with empty buildings dominating the eerie skyline.

Once a glitzy holiday destination frequented by Hollywood’s elite, including Elizabeth Taylor, Varosha in Cyprus laid empty for decades. But in recent years, tourists have started to trickle back as the town becomes a hotspot for those drawn to places with dark historical significance.

The seaside resort’s fortunes took a dramatic turn on July 20, 1974, when the Turkish army invaded the northern part of Cyprus. It was in response to an attempted coup sponsored by the Greek junta just five days earlier. The military invasion led to the mass exodus of the 15,000 residents of Varosha, leaving behind their homes, businesses and pristine beaches.

Now under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus, the neighbourhood remained untouched for many years, cordoned off by the military. Once opulent buildings were left to decay.

**Residents fled the town when the Turkish army invaded the northern part of Cyprus in 1974** ( Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

As time passed, nature began to reclaim parts of the neighbourhood, with plants creeping into walls and pavements and sea turtles nesting on Varosha’s beaches. However, in October 2020, a decision was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the then prime minister of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, to reopen the area to visitors.

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.

**It is now popular as a ‘dark tourism’ hotspot and is being re-opened to visitors** ( Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Hubert Faustmann, a professor at the University of Nicosia, told the the Express: “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.”

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 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.