Cyprus Passion / About Cyprus / History

Timeline of Cyprus History

Ten thousand years, and everyone who wanted the island

Cyprus is a historical melting pot. Sitting at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the island has spent ten thousand years being wanted — conquered by one foreign power after another, each for its own political or economic gain.

What makes the history worth reading is that none of it was erased. Every empire left something behind, and you can still walk into it: a Roman mosaic at Paphos, a Byzantine dome in the Troodos, a Crusader keep at Kolossi, an Ottoman aqueduct outside Larnaca, a British colonial post office. The layers are the point.

The island in order

1. c. 10,000 BC

   First settlement

   Neolithic communities establish themselves; Choirokoitia, later a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is among the best preserved anywhere in the eastern Mediterranean.

2. c. 2500 BC

   The Bronze Age

   Copper transforms the island. The metal and the island share a name, and Cyprus becomes a trading power across the region.

3. c. 1200 BC

   Greek settlement

   Mycenaean and Achaean Greeks arrive and found the city-kingdoms — among them Kourion, Salamis and Palaepaphos. Greek language and religion take root and never leave.

4. c. 700 BC

   Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian rule

   The city-kingdoms survive as tributaries, passing between the great powers of the Near East.

5. 333 BC

   Hellenistic Cyprus

   Alexander the Great takes the island; after his death it falls to the Ptolemies of Egypt, ruled from Paphos.

6. 58 BC

   Roman province

   Rome annexes Cyprus. Paphos becomes the capital, and the island receives the theatres, villas and mosaics still being excavated today.

7. AD 45

   Christianity arrives

   The apostles Paul and Barnabas preach on the island — Cyprus is among the earliest places in the world to have a Christian governor.

8. 330–1191

   Byzantine centuries

   Cyprus becomes part of the Eastern Roman Empire. The mountain churches and their frescoes date from this long period, and the Orthodox Church becomes central to Cypriot identity.

9. 1191

   Richard the Lionheart

   The English king seizes the island en route to the Third Crusade and marries Berengaria of Navarre at Limassol. He sells Cyprus on within the year.

10. 1192–1489

    The Lusignan kingdom

    Three centuries of Frankish rule. Gothic cathedrals rise in Nicosia and Famagusta, and the island becomes one of the wealthiest in the Mediterranean.

11. 1489–1571

    Venetian rule

    Venice takes control and fortifies against the Ottomans — the walls of Nicosia and Famagusta belong to this period.

12. 1571–1878

    Ottoman rule

    Three centuries under the Ottoman Empire. The Orthodox Church is restored as the community’s representative, and a Turkish Cypriot population settles on the island.

13. 1878–1960

    British administration

    Britain takes over administration, annexes the island in 1914 and makes it a Crown Colony in 1925. Roads, schools and courts are built; so is a movement for self-determination.

14. 1955–1959

    The EOKA struggle

    An armed campaign against colonial rule ends in the London and Zurich agreements.

15. 16 August 1960

    Independence

    The Republic of Cyprus is founded, with Archbishop Makarios III as its first president and a new flag designed to belong to everyone on the island.

16. 1974

    Invasion and division

    A coup backed by the Greek junta is followed by a Turkish military invasion. The island is divided, and roughly a third of it remains under occupation.

17. 2004

    European Union

    Cyprus joins the EU; the euro follows in 2008.