Varosha: The Cyprus Beach Resort Abandoned Mid-Season in 1974 and Untouched Ever Since

In August 1974, approximately 15,000 people left Varosha, a beach resort district on the eastern coast of Cyprus, in under 24 hours. They expected to return in a few days. What they took was whatever they could carry. Furniture stayed in the houses, clothes in the wardrobes, food on the tables. Cars stayed in the street. The hotel season was mid-swing: rooms had guests, restaurants had bookings, beach chairs had towels on them.

Turkish military forces sealed the area behind barbed wire and declared it a military zone. The 15,000 did not return. For 46 years, Varosha sat sealed and deteriorating.

What It Was Before

In the early 1970s, Varosha was one of the Mediterranean‘s most fashionable destinations. Tourism accounted for 57 percent of Cyprus’s entire GDP by 1970, and Varosha drove most of it. The hotel corridor along the beach included the Argo, the King George, the Florida, and dozens of others. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton came here. Brigitte Bardot came. Raquel Welch. In April 1970, the four future members of ABBA visited on a promotional trip and performed in Famagusta.

The infrastructure was modern and growing fast. Investors put up new high-rise hotels throughout the early 1970s. Some of those buildings were never finished. They remain mid-construction today, scaffolding still in place, 50 years on.

What Happened

Cyprus had been building toward crisis for years. The island gained independence from Britain in 1960 but remained deeply divided between its Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority. On July 15, 1974, Greek military officers staged a coup aiming to unite Cyprus with Greece. Five days later, Turkey invaded northern Cyprus. The Turkish army advanced in two phases. The second phase, in August 1974, swept through Varosha.

The evacuation took hours. Turkish forces sealed the perimeter. UN Security Council Resolution 541 called for Varosha to return to UN administration. Turkey did not comply. Subsequently, the resolutions remained unenforced.

Inside the fence, nature reclaimed the streets over the following decades. Trees grew through hotel lobbies. Vines covered facades. Cars rusted where they sat. Meanwhile, the buildings deteriorated without maintenance. Aerial photographs over the years documented the slow collapse of a Mediterranean resort town from which all human care had been withdrawn.

For most of those 46 years, the only images of Varosha’s interior came from aerial photography and long-lens shots through the wire. Journalists and diplomats occasionally gained access. What they described was consistent with what you would predict: suspended mid-1970s, decaying, strange.

The Partial Opening and the Politics

In October 2020, the Turkish Cypriot authorities partially reopened sections of Varosha’s beachfront and some streets. The Republic of Cyprus, the European Union, and the United Nations all condemned the decision. The reopening was unilateral, made without consultation with original residents or any international body with authority over the site.

Visitors can now walk or cycle through limited sections, including Democracy Street and portions of the beach. Caution signs warn that buildings could collapse. Additionally, the deeper sections remain sealed behind military fences, with Turkish police counting visitors in and out.

By the end of 2025, nearly five million people had visited since the partial opening. The Turkish Cypriot leadership outlined plans to demolish some buildings and restore others, converting them into economic assets. A marina and tourist facility are in development. In 2023, a Turkish Cypriot businessman purchased three hotels from their Greek Cypriot owners and planned to reopen them by 2025.

For the original inhabitants, most of whom now live south of the UN buffer zone and still legally own property in Varosha, the partial opening feels less like progress and more like the division hardening. They cannot return. Their buildings are deteriorating or changing hands without their consent.