There are quite a few odd corners of this great world of ours, filled with all sorts of strange sights. Michael J. Totten has had the great fortune of seeing quite a few of those sites, many of which lie under the control of tyrranical regimes. His previous photo essay from his trip to Libya gives a rare Western glimpse into that dictatorship, including some very compelling shots of the formerly Berber city of Ghadames, whose residents were forceably removed by Ghaddafi.
His recent trip to Cyprus produced some extremely eerie pictures of Varosha, the “ghost city of Cyprus”. Turkish forces seized the city when they invaded Cyprus in 1974 and then sealed it off. It has been deserted for the past 30 years and the shots Totten managed to snag before being run off by the Turkish military are simultaneously intriguing and unsettling. Do yourself a favor and check out both of those photo essays.
The Ghost City of Cyprus
I believe it was National Geographic who did a large spread on Cyprus in general, not too long ago (within last 2 years). The ghost city is incredibly odd. Something will have to give, as both Tukey AND Cyprus are seeking admission to the EU…
that IS creepy. Would be pretty cool to walk through it though, like the last surviving human in a nuclear holocaust or something.
This is so sad. We lived in van Goch Street, Varosha in 1963-64. Our house had orange trees and loofah bushes in the garden. We were literally 200 yds from arguably the best beach in the Med.