Northern Cyprus is an epic place to go backpacking. It’s not really budget-friendly as accommodation is a bit expensive, but being a backpacker doesn’t mean being a low-budget traveller. A backpacker is someone who travels with a backpack, regardless of their budget.
Initially, I travelled to Famagusta to see the Ghost Town of Varosha, but I discovered that the ancient Famagusta Walled City was an incredible place to explore, and when I was at the tourist office, they also told me of the Ancient City of Salamis, just 10km to the north.
They gave me a tourist brochure. The photos looked stunning. So I just had to go.
The way to get here using public transport is to take a bus from the Famagusta Bus Terminal to Iskele and get off somewhere along the way, but be warned, the schedule has big holes in it. Saturday is even worse, and on Sundays there are NO buses and guess what day I had picked to go?
I headed over to the road that would take me there, walked a bit and then walked some more until the chances of getting a ride would be more promising, and I needed somewhere with shade. By that time, I had already walked 4.5 km, so as Forrest Gump once said, “so I kept right on going”. What’s 9 or 10 km between friends? Wanna join me? Thought not.
Finally, at the entrance to the Ancient City of Salamis:
Visiting Salamis
Visiting hours at Salamis:
Get your ticket:
The entrance feee was just 50 TL:
Map and brochure to the Ancient City of Salamis:
Letras de Salamis:
There are two tracks, the short one, coloured red and the long track, coloured blue. I busted my ass to get here, so hell if I was gonna miss out on anything. But if you are in a hurry, the red one would be enough.
Right at the beginning, you are rewarded with these incredible Corinthian marble columns:
The ancient city of Salamis was one of the most opulent cities of Cyprus during classical antiquity. Archaeological excavations undertaken at Salamis show that the history of the settlement dates back to as early as the eleventh century BC.
Archaeologists believe that Salamis was first established by newcomers from the nearby site of Enkomi following the earthquake of 1075 B.C.
Salamis emerged as an important commercial centre towards the end of the 8th century B.C., due to the strategic location of the site.
The city was subsequently controlled by the Persian Empire until the arrival of Alexander the Great and then, following his death in 323 B.C., Salamis came under the control of the Ptolemaic dynasty until its incorporation into the Roman Empire in the 1st century B.C.
Two major earthquakes occurred in 332 and 342 A.D., which devastated much of the city.
The Byzantine Emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD) rebuilt the city and renamed it as “Constantia”. Because the harbour was almost silted up, the commercial importance of the city gradually started to decline in the 4th century A.D. and by 648 AD, the last inhabitants of Salamis moved to Arsinoe (Famagusta).
Read in more detail about the history of Salamis
The Amphitheatre was built by the Roman Emperor Augustus between 27 B.C. and 14 A.D. The original theatre had 15,000 seats but was destroyed in the 4th Century.
Colonnaded Street. This was one of the main roads of the city:
Entrance to the fish market:
At the Basilica of St Epiphanius. It was built at the beginning of the 5th Century. Named after the most influential bishop of Salamis, St Epiphanius, it is one of the earliest monuments of Christianity in Cyprus:
Engraved rocks at the Agora and Temple of Zeus:
The Basilica of Campanopetra dates from the late 5th Century AD and is one of the more important early Byzantine churches in Cyprus, and is the largest religious complex on the island:
Getting back, I got lucky and got a ride after just 5 minutes from the highway.
Hot Tips for Visiting the Ancient City of Salamis:
- Go early to beat the heat and blinding light (summers get up to 40 degrees C)
- Go early to beat the tourist buses
- Cover up, use sunblock and take water
- If you are reliant on public transport, best visit Monday to Friday as the Saturday schedule is shite and there is no service on Sunday