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Location
Directions
The Famagusta British Military and Civilian Cemetery is located 65 miles from Nicosia. Approaching
from the Nicosia/Famagusta dual carriageway, turn right at the roundabout signposted to the town,
and then right again at the large Ataturk roundabout surrounding a war memorial outside the corner of
the bastions, signposted to Larnaca. After approximately 300 metres take the left fork, also signposted
to Larnaca, and the cemetery will be found on the left hand side, about 100 metres further on. A large
Turkish military cemetery and memorial is situated further on.
The Cemetery in Context
Famagusta (Ammochostos), with the only deepwater port of Cyprus, developed into the centre of
commerce for the near East after the fall of Acre in 1291, so much so that for a while it was the richest
city in the Mediterranean. Its thick Venetian walls and stout defence resulted in it being the last city
to be conquered by the Ottomans in the invasion of 1570, only falling in September 1571 after a ten
month siege. It underwent three centuries of neglect thereafter, with its port silting up. Once the British
took over administration of the island in 1878 it regained a faint semblance of its former maritime
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