Cyprus, the third largest island of the Mediterranean Sea, is located south of Turkey. The island was conquered by the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in 1571 and remained under Ottoman rule for three centuries. In 1878, The Ottoman sultan agreed to cede Cyprus to Britain in return for British support for Turkey in its war with Russia. After 82 years of British rule, the island became an independent republic in 1960, under a constitution drafted in an effort to balance the interests of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Britain retained sovereignty over two large military bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, on the south coast. Unfortunately, the political compromise dissolved into violence in 1974. Turkish troops intervened and occupied the northern third of Cyprus, establishing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. United Nations troops administer the Green Line, a narrow zone separating the Greek and Turkish sections of the island. The Turkish Republic is not recognized diplomatically by any country except Turkey.
Lighthouses in the (Greek) Republic of Cyprus are maintained by the Cyprus Ports Authority. The Greek word for a lighthouse is pharos or faros.
ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume E of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
- General Sources
- Cyprus Ports Authority - Lighthouses
- A description of the history of Cyprus lighthouses, illustrated with several small photos.
- Lighthouses of Cyprus
- Pages for three of the lighthouses, posted by Claudia & Mike Hovorka.
- Online List of Lights - Cyprus
- Photos by various photographers posted by Alex Trabas.
- Lighthouses in Cyprus
- Photos available from Wikimedia.
- Europäische Leuchttürme auf historischen Postkarten
- Historic postcard views posted by Klaus Huelse.
Paphos Light, Paphos, March 2010
Flickr Creative Commons photo by Marko Forsten
