Lighthouses of Northern Cyprus

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 four centuries. In 1878, The Ottoman sultan agreed to cede Cyprus to Britain in return for British support for Turkey in a war with Russia. After 82 years of British rule, the island became an independent republic in 1960, under a constitution carefully 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 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are maintained by the Turkish Cyprus Coastal Safety and Salvage Directorate. The Turkish phrase for a lighthouse is fener (plural fenerler) or deniz feneri ("sea lantern"). Burnu is a cape or headland, ada or adası is an island, and limani is a harbor.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. KTGK numbers are from the list provided by the coastal safely directorate. 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
Deniz Feneri
Official light list for Northern Cyprus.
Online List of Lights - Cyprus
Photos by various photographers posted by Alex Trabas.
Europäische Leuchttürme auf historischen Postkarten
Historic postcard views posted by Klaus Huelse.


Canbulat Light, Famagusta
photo copyright Dmitry Rostopshin; used by permission
Lighthouses
* Denizli (Xeros) Pier
Date unknown. Inactive. 7 m (23 ft) square skeletal tower mounted on the roof of a waterfront building. A photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. The seafront is dilapidated, and the pier is collapsing and useless. Although the light still appears on international lists, it is not on the official Northern Cyprus list. Located on the waterfront of Denizli (historically known as Xeros), a village in northwestern Cyprus, not far from the western end of the Green Line. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty E5906; NGA 20980.
Kormacit (Koruçam Burnu, Cape Kormakiti, Cape Komakitis, Cape Koruçam) (2)
1991 (station established 1940s). Active; focal plane 30 m (98 ft); two white flashes every 20 s. 20 m (66 ft) square pyramidal steel skeletal tower, painted white. Sergey Kuzmin has a photo, a 2010 photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Cape Koruçam is a sharp promontory on the northwest coast of Cyprus. Located on the point of the cape, about 25 km (15 mi) west of Lapta (Lapithos). Accessible by 4WD vehicles. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CYP-007; KTGK 33250; Admiralty E5904; NGA 20976.
* Girne (Kyrenia) West Mole (1)
1907. Inactive since 1963. 7 m (23 ft) round strongly conical stone tower. The tower is unpainted. Craig Wiggins has a photo, a closeup photo is available, Hulki Okan Tabak also has a closeup, Huelse has a historic postcard view, and Bing has a satellite view. Also seen in Huelse's photo is an unlit stone beacon on the east mole. A recent photo shows that the east mole beacon also survives, but we have no evidence that it was ever a lighthouse. The old harbor of Kyrenia, used now as a yacht and small boat marina, has been extended by constructing a long breakwater attached to the west mole. Located at the end of the old west mole, now an elbow of the extended mole. Site open, tower
* [Girne (Kyrenia) West Mole (2)]
1963(?). Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); green flash every 5 s. 8 m (26 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted white. The tower appears rusty in a 2006 photo of the pier. Lisa Solonynko has a photo, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the end of the extended breakwater of the yacht and small boat marina. Accessible by walking the pier. Site open, tower closed. KTGK 33230; Admiralty E5902; NGA 20972.
* Girne Ana (Kyrenia Main)
1994. Active; focal plane 19 m (58 ft); three white flashes every 20 s. 7 m (23 ft) square cylindrical steel skeletal tower with gallery, mounted atop a 1-story building. Skeletal tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo of the building is available, and Bing's satellite view does not reveal the tower. Girne (Kyrenia) is the principal port on the north coast of Cyprus; ferries arrive here from Alanya and Mersin on the south coast of Turkey. This light guides vessels into the ferry and commercial harbor, which is a short distance east of the old harbor. Located on a building facing the ferry harbor. Site open, tower closed. KTGK 33226; Admiralty E5901.6; NGA 20971.
Kyrenia West Mole Light
1907 West Mole Light, Girne (Kyrenia), November 2005
Flickr Creative Commons photo by Rita Willaert
[Girne (Kyrenia) South Breakwater]
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); red flash every 3 s. 8 m (26 ft) round white concrete tower with gallery. A photo is available, and Bing has a satellite view. Located at the end of the south (really east) breakwater of the ferry harbor. Site status unknown. KTGK 33234; Admiralty E5901.4; NGA 20973.5.
Zafer Burnu (Cape Andreas, Klidhes Islands) (2)
1991 (station established 1913). Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); four white flashes every 20 s. 10 m (33 ft) round hourglass-shaped steel tower, painted white. Trabas has a photo by Capt. Peter Mosselberger, and Bing has a satellite view. This lighthouse is similar to many lights installed in Turkey around the same time. Zafer Burnu (Cape Andreas) is the tip of a long, sharp-pointed peninsula that projects from the northeast corner of Cyprus. The lighthouse is located on a small island off the end of the peninsula, one of several representing summits of an underwater ridge. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS CYP-010; KTGK 33210; Admiralty E5900; NGA 20968.
Elea (Zeytinlik Burnu, Cape Elea) (2)
2002(?) (station establishment date unknown). Active; focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash every 10 s. 11 m (36 ft) octagonal pyramidal concrete tower with ribs at each edge. Lighthouse painted white; the ribs are painted black, so at a distance the lighthouse appears white with narrow black vertical stripes. There is an enclosure in the base of the tower, but access to the light is by an external ladder. Chris and Angela Pye have a 2008 photo, and Bing has a satellite view. There is a news item from 2002 (3/4 of the way down the page) stating that the lighthouse "will be demolished and in its place a new one will be built." Located on a promontory on the south side of the Zafer Burnu (Cape Andreas) peninsula, which projects from the northeast corner of Cyprus. Site status unknown. ARLHS CYP-006; KTGK 33110; Admiralty E5890; NGA 20965.
* Karakol (Famagusta Northwest) (2)
Date unknown (station established 1906). Active; focal plane 18 m (59 ft); flash every 7 s, white or red depending on direction. 11 m (36 ft) square pyramidal concrete tower, painted with black and white vertical stripes. A photo is at right, and Bing has a satellite view. This lighthouse guides vessels approaching the harbor of Mağusa (Famagusta). Located on the northwest side of the city in an area that appears to be occupied by government buildings. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CYP-008; KTGK 33140; Admiralty E5893; NGA 20948.
* Canbulat (Mağusa, Gazimağusa, Famagusta Southeast Bastion) (3?)
1972 (station established 1906). Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. 11 m (36 ft) 2-stage round cylindrical tower with lantern and double gallery; the lower stage is stone and the upper stage is metal. It seems likely that the lower stage is the original 1906 lighthouse. Entire lighthouse painted white. Dmitry Rostopshin's photo is at the top of this page, Trabas has a good photo, Wayne Hopkins has a 2011 photo, Alexandr Zheleznyak has a photo, and Google has a satellite view. This is the landfall light for Mağusa (Famagusta), the principal port on the east coast of Cyprus. During medieval times, the city was one of the richest in the Middle East. Venice, which controlled the city from 1489 to 1571, fortified it with high stone walls. The lighthouse is built on the walled city's southeast bastion (the Djamboulat Bastion), adjacent to the base of the harbor. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS CYP-009; KTGK 33130; Admiralty E5892; NGA 20944.

Karakol Light
Coastal Safety Directorate photo

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Southern Turkey | South: Republic of Cyprus

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Posted May 14, 2007. Checked and revised November 26, 2012. Lighthouses: 8. Site copyright 2012 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.