Cyprus

Cyprus was settled remarkably early. At Choirokoitia, on the island's south coast, a Neolithic community of round stone houses flourished from roughly the seventh to the fourth millennium BCE, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean and a window onto the spread of farming across the region. The island's copper, which may have given Cyprus its very name, drew it into the trade networks of the Bronze Age Near East, and its harbours linked the civilisations of the Aegean, the Levant and Egypt.

From around 1200 BCE, in the upheaval that followed the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, Greek-speaking settlers arrived in numbers, and Greek became the dominant language of the island. They founded or refounded a network of city-kingdoms, among them Salamis, Kition, Paphos, Curium, Soli, Marion and Lapithos, each with its own king. Old Paphos became the great centre of the cult of Aphrodite, the goddess whom Greek myth held to have risen from the sea-foam off the Cypriot coast; her sanctuary, with origins traced to the twelfth century BCE, made the island a place of pilgrimage for the ancient Greek world.

Strategically placed and rich in copper, Cyprus rarely controlled its own destiny for long. Its kingdoms paid tribute to the Assyrians in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, fell under Egyptian and then Persian overlordship, and shared in the Greek world's struggle against the Persian Empire. After the conquests of Alexander the Great the island passed to the Hellenistic kingdom of the Ptolemies of Egypt, who abolished the old city-kingdoms and ruled Cyprus as a province until Rome annexed it in 58 BCE.

Turning points

1. c. 7000–4000 BCEFormation

   The Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia

   A farming community of round stone dwellings flourished at Choirokoitia, one of the best-preserved and most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean, illuminating the early evolution of human society in the region.

   [6] [1]

2. from c. 1200 BCEPeoples & Migration

   Greek settlement and the city-kingdoms

   After the collapse of Mycenaean Greece, Greek-speaking settlers established the city-kingdoms of Cyprus, among them Salamis, Kition and Paphos, making Greek the island's predominant language.

   ↗See the data

   [1] [5]

3. from c. 12th c. BCEReligion

   The sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos

   Old Paphos became the principal centre of the worship of Aphrodite, whose temple bore witness to one of the oldest Mycenaean settlements and drew pilgrims from across the Greek world.

   [5] [3]

4. 8th–6th c. BCEWar & Rupture

   Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian overlordship

   The Cypriot kingdoms paid tribute successively to the Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian empires, sharing in the wider Greek world's long struggle against Persian domination.

   ↗See the data

   [1]

5. c. 294–58 BCEPolitics & Power

   Ptolemaic rule

   Following Alexander the Great's conquests, Cyprus passed to the Hellenistic Ptolemies of Egypt, who abolished the independent city-kingdoms and governed the island as a province until Rome took it in 58 BCE.

   [1]

Figures of the era

Rome annexed Cyprus in 58 BCE and, after a brief interlude, organised it as a senatorial province governed by a proconsul. The island prospered under Roman rule, and Nea Paphos, with its lavish floor mosaics, served as the Roman capital. According to the New Testament, when the apostles Paul and Barnabas, the latter a native Cypriot, travelled across the island around 45-47 CE they reached the proconsul Sergius Paulus at Paphos and won him to the new faith, making Cyprus an early scene of Christian conversion at the highest level of provincial government.

When the Roman world divided, Cyprus fell to the eastern, Byzantine empire, ruled from Constantinople. The Church of Cyprus secured a prized independence: it was recognised as autocephalous, governing itself rather than answering to a neighbouring patriarch, a status its archbishops have guarded ever since. Christianity reshaped the island's landscape, and in later centuries the painted churches of the Troödos mountains, decorated with some of the richest Byzantine and post-Byzantine murals to survive anywhere, would make the region one of the largest concentrations of Byzantine ecclesiastical art in existence.

Cyprus's wealth and position made it a target. From the seventh century Arab fleets raided the island repeatedly, and for some three centuries it was effectively a contested frontier zone between Byzantium and the Caliphate before Byzantine authority was firmly restored in 965. The empire's hold lasted until 1191, when a rebellious local governor's defiance gave a passing Crusader king the pretext to seize the island and change its course entirely.

Turning points

1. 58 BCEPolitics & Power

   Rome annexes Cyprus

   Cyprus was annexed by Rome and organised as a province; under Roman rule the island prospered, with Nea Paphos as its capital and a centre of the celebrated mosaic art later inscribed by UNESCO.

   [1] [5]

2. c. 45–47 CEReligion

   Paul and Barnabas convert the proconsul

   On their journey across Cyprus the apostles Paul and Barnabas reached the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus at Paphos, an early instance of a senior Roman official embracing Christianity.

   [1]

3. 5th c. CEReligion

   An autocephalous Church

   The Church of Cyprus was recognised as self-governing (autocephalous), free from the authority of any neighbouring patriarch, a distinction its archbishops have defended throughout the island's history.

   [1]

4. from 649 CEWar & Rupture

   Arab raids and a contested frontier

   From the mid-seventh century Cyprus suffered repeated Arab naval raids and for some three centuries lay as a contested zone between Byzantium and the Caliphate before Byzantine rule was firmly restored in 965.

   ↗See the data

   [1]

5. 11th–12th c. CECulture & Ideas

   The painted churches of the Troödos

   The mountain region of Troödos accumulated one of the largest groups of Byzantine churches and monasteries, richly decorated with murals later inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

   [7]

Figures of the era

In 1191, on his way to the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England seized Cyprus from its rebellious Byzantine governor. He soon sold the island, which passed in 1192 to Guy de Lusignan, the dispossessed French king of Jerusalem. The Lusignan dynasty ruled Cyprus as a Latin, feudal kingdom for nearly three centuries, building Gothic cathedrals at Nicosia and Famagusta and presiding over a wealthy crossroads of Mediterranean trade, while the Greek Orthodox majority lived under a French-speaking Catholic aristocracy.

As Lusignan power waned, the merchant republic of Venice extended its grip. In 1489 the Venetian-born widow of the last Lusignan king, Caterina Cornaro, ceded Cyprus to the Republic of Venice, which ruled the island as a fortified colony, prizing it as a forward base and a source of trade against the rising power of the Ottoman Empire. The Venetians ringed Nicosia and Famagusta with massive defensive walls that still stand, but invested little in the welfare of the Greek population.

The Ottoman Empire ended Venetian rule by force. An Ottoman army invaded in 1570, took Nicosia, and after a long and brutal siege captured Famagusta in 1571, completing the conquest. Ottoman rule lasted just over three centuries. The Latin Church was suppressed and the Orthodox Church restored to prominence, its archbishop recognised as leader (millet head) of the Greek Cypriots, while Turkish-speaking Muslims settled on the island, laying the demographic foundations of the two communities whose relationship would dominate modern Cypriot history.

Turning points

1. 1191War & Rupture

   Richard the Lionheart seizes Cyprus

   En route to the Third Crusade, King Richard I of England captured Cyprus from its Byzantine governor, ending Byzantine rule and opening the island to Latin Crusader control.

   ↗See the data

   [1]

2. 1192Formation

   The Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus

   Guy de Lusignan, former king of Jerusalem, took possession of Cyprus, founding a French feudal dynasty that ruled the island as a Latin Crusader kingdom for nearly three centuries.

   [1]

3. 1489Politics & Power

   Cyprus ceded to Venice

   Caterina Cornaro, widow of the last Lusignan king, ceded Cyprus to the Republic of Venice, which ruled it as a fortified colonial outpost and bulwark against the Ottomans.

   [1]

4. 1570–1571War & Rupture

   Ottoman conquest of Cyprus

   An Ottoman army invaded in 1570, taking Nicosia, and after a long siege captured Famagusta in 1571, ending Venetian rule and beginning more than three centuries of Ottoman administration.

   ↗See the data

   [2] [1]

5. after 1571Religion

   Two communities take shape

   Under Ottoman rule the Orthodox Church was restored and its archbishop made leader of the Greek Cypriots, while Muslim settlement established the Turkish Cypriot community alongside it.

   [2]

Figures of the era

Britain assumed the administration of Cyprus in 1878 under the Cyprus Convention with the Ottoman Empire, which retained nominal sovereignty in exchange for Britain's promise of support against Russia. The island gave Britain a strategic station near the Suez route to India. When the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War against Britain in 1914, Britain annexed Cyprus outright; Turkey formally renounced any claim under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, and in 1925 Cyprus was declared a Crown Colony.

From early in the British period many in the Greek Cypriot majority, encouraged by the Orthodox Church, campaigned for énosis, the union of Cyprus with Greece. Demands intensified after the Second World War, and in 1950 the Church organised a plebiscite in which an overwhelming majority of Greek Cypriots voted for union. Britain, valuing the island as a military base, refused; the Turkish Cypriot minority, fearing absorption into a Greek state, opposed énosis and increasingly favoured partition (taksim).

In 1955 the frustration of the énosis movement turned to violence. EOKA, the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters, led by the former Greek army officer Colonel Georgios Grivas and supported by Archbishop Makarios III, launched an armed campaign against British rule on 1 April 1955. The British exiled Makarios to the Seychelles in 1956 and met the insurgency with emergency measures, while intercommunal tension between Greek and Turkish Cypriots deepened. By 1958 Makarios had signalled he would accept independence in place of énosis, opening the way to a negotiated settlement.

Turning points

1. 1878Colonisation

   Britain takes over Cyprus

   Under the Cyprus Convention, Britain assumed the administration of Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire, which retained nominal sovereignty, gaining a strategic Mediterranean base near the route to India.

   ↗See the data

   [2] [12]

2. 1914Colonisation

   British annexation

   When the Ottoman Empire joined the First World War against Britain, Britain annexed Cyprus; Turkey renounced its claim to the island in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

   ↗See the data

   [2] [14]

3. 1925Colonisation

   Cyprus made a Crown Colony

   Cyprus was formally declared a British Crown Colony, consolidating colonial administration over the island.

   ↗See the data

   [2] [14]

4. 1950Politics & Power

   The énosis plebiscite

   The Orthodox Church organised a plebiscite in which the overwhelming majority of Greek Cypriots voted for union with Greece; Britain refused, and Turkish Cypriots opposed it, sharpening communal division.

   [4] [1]

5. 1 Apr 1955War & Rupture

   EOKA launches its armed campaign

   EOKA, led by Colonel Georgios Grivas with the support of Archbishop Makarios III, began an armed struggle against British rule in pursuit of énosis, opening four years of insurgency and repression.

   ↗See the data

   [4]

Figures of the era

The road to independence ran through Switzerland and Britain. In February 1959 Greece and Turkey reached a compromise at Zürich, endorsed days later by the British government and Cypriot leaders in London. The resulting settlement created an independent Republic of Cyprus on 16 August 1960, with a constitution dividing offices between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority and reserving the presidency for a Greek Cypriot and the vice-presidency for a Turkish Cypriot, each with a veto. A Treaty of Guarantee bound Britain, Greece and Turkey to uphold the new state, which undertook not to join in union with any other country or to be partitioned; Britain retained two Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

The constitution proved unworkable. In late 1963 President Makarios proposed amendments to ease the deadlocks built into the power-sharing rules; Turkish Cypriots saw the changes as a threat to their guaranteed rights, and in December 1963 intercommunal violence erupted, beginning in Nicosia and spreading across the island. A ceasefire line through the capital, drawn on a map in green, gave the lasting term 'Green Line'. Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the organs of government and many moved into defended enclaves, leaving the bicommunal republic effectively broken.

With fighting threatening to draw in Greece and Turkey, the matter went to the United Nations. On 4 March 1964 the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 186, recommending, with the consent of the Government of Cyprus, the creation of a United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and the appointment of a mediator. UNFICYP became operational on 27 March 1964 with the task of using its best efforts to prevent a recurrence of fighting and to help restore law and order; it has remained on the island ever since, the dispute outlasting decades of negotiation.

Turning points

1. Feb 1959Politics & Power

   The Zürich-London Agreements

   Greece and Turkey reached a compromise at Zürich, endorsed in London by Britain and Cypriot leaders, setting the terms for an independent Cyprus that excluded both énosis and partition.

   [4] [1]

2. 16 Aug 1960Independence

   Independence and the Treaty of Guarantee

   The Republic of Cyprus became independent under a Greek-Turkish power-sharing constitution; the Treaty of Guarantee bound Britain, Greece and Turkey to its independence and territorial integrity, and Britain kept two Sovereign Base Areas.

   ↗See the data

   [8] [12]

3. Dec 1963War & Rupture

   Breakdown and the Green Line

   After President Makarios proposed constitutional changes, intercommunal violence broke out in December 1963; Turkish Cypriots withdrew from government and a ceasefire line dubbed the 'Green Line' was drawn through Nicosia.

   ↗See the data

   [9] [14]

4. 4 Mar 1964Politics & Power

   UN Security Council Resolution 186 establishes UNFICYP

   The Security Council unanimously recommended, with the consent of the Government of Cyprus, the creation of the UN Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus to prevent a recurrence of fighting and help restore order; UNFICYP became operational on 27 March 1964.

   [9] [10] [11]

5. 1964Politics & Power

   A UN mediator for the Cyprus question

   Resolution 186 also recommended that the Secretary-General designate a mediator to promote a peaceful and agreed settlement, beginning the long international effort to resolve the dispute.

   [9] [11]

Figures of the era

On 15 July 1974 the military junta then ruling Greece, acting through the Cypriot National Guard, mounted a coup against President Makarios, aiming to bring about énosis; Makarios escaped and the coup installed a hardline nationalist. Citing its rights as a guarantor power under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Turkey launched a military intervention on 20 July 1974, and in a second offensive in August its forces took control of the northern part of the island, roughly the upper third. The Greek junta fell within days, but the fighting left Cyprus partitioned along a ceasefire line and uprooted both communities: Greek Cypriots fled or were expelled from the north and Turkish Cypriots moved to it, a mass displacement that hardened the island's division.

After 1974 UNFICYP's role shifted to supervising the de facto ceasefire lines and maintaining the buffer zone that runs across the island, alongside humanitarian work. The political deadlock hardened. On 15 November 1983 the Turkish Cypriot leadership unilaterally proclaimed the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'. On 18 November 1983 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 541, which considered that declaration legally invalid, called for its withdrawal, and called upon all states not to recognise any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus. To this day the entity is recognised only by Turkey.

Efforts at reunification continued under UN auspices. In 2004 the United Nations put forward a comprehensive settlement, the Annan Plan, to refound Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation. In simultaneous referendums on 24 April 2004 the plan was approved by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by about three-quarters of Greek Cypriots voting. A week later, on 1 May 2004, the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union; the whole island is EU territory, but the application of EU law is suspended in the northern areas not under the effective control of the government. Cyprus remains divided, its reunification still the subject of international negotiation.

Turning points

1. 15 Jul 1974War & Rupture

   The Greek-junta-backed coup

   The military junta ruling Greece, through the Cypriot National Guard, overthrew President Makarios in pursuit of énosis; Makarios escaped abroad and a hardline nationalist was installed.

   ↗See the data

   [1] [14]

2. 20 Jul 1974War & Rupture

   Turkish military intervention

   Invoking its guarantor rights under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Turkey landed forces on 20 July 1974 and in a second August offensive took the northern third of the island, partitioning Cyprus and displacing both communities; UNFICYP was thereafter tasked with supervising the ceasefire lines and the buffer zone.

   ↗See the data

   [1] [8] [10] [14]

3. 15 Nov 1983Politics & Power

   Declaration of the 'TRNC' and UN Resolution 541

   The Turkish Cypriot leadership proclaimed the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' on 15 November 1983; on 18 November the Security Council, in Resolution 541, considered the declaration legally invalid and called on all states not to recognise any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus.

   [10] [11] [12] [14]

4. 24 Apr 2004Politics & Power

   The Annan Plan referendums

   A UN reunification plan was put to simultaneous referendums; Turkish Cypriots approved it but about three-quarters of Greek Cypriots voting rejected it, leaving the island divided on the eve of EU membership.

   [14] [13]

5. 1 May 2004Politics & Power

   Accession to the European Union

   The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU; the whole island is EU territory, but the application of EU law is suspended in the northern areas not under the government's effective control.

   [13]

Figures of the era