St Nicholas Cathedral - 5 minutes to Salamis Bay Conti Hotel

The city of Famagusta was famous for bringing great architects to build their best for the city, and we don’t just mean the Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel!

Master designer Leonardo da Vinci was supposed to have helped design Famagusta’s famous city walls, such was the wealth and fame of the city during the 15th century. When the city masters decided they wished to build a fine cathedral, they brought in the finest church designers of the day, the French. So, it’s no surprise that the impressive St Nicholas’ Cathedral in Famagusta is a Gothic masterpiece in the style of Rheims Cathedral, complete with twin spires and flying buttresses.

As you wander into the main square of Famagusta, you can’t help but admire the elegant façade of St Nicholas’ Cathedral, now the Lala Mustafa Pasa mosque. When the Turks took over the city in 1571, they converted many of the former churches into mosques, and you can still see the minaret they added at the time to one of the St Nicholas towers. The fig tree that stands just outside the mosque door is said to be the oldest tree in Cyprus, and provides welcome shade in the heat of the day.

Visitors are welcome inside the mosque, so long as you dress appropriately by covering your legs, and women should also cover their heads. The curator can supply suitable garments if required, and you should also leave your shoes at the door. Once inside, the mosque is light, bright and impressively tall, with whitewashed walls and two rows of magnificent columns supporting the vaulted ceiling above. You can just imagine the Lusignan kings of Cyprus processing down the nave, to be crowned King of Jerusalem.  

Back at the Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel, you may not wear a crown, but the staff will still treat you like royalty!