Gazima?ua today is a fascinating hotchpotch, perpetually startling in its incongruities and juxtapositions. Here a Leeds steam locomotive stands in front of the Turkish police satation against the backdrop of skyscraper shells in front of the Turkish police station against the backdrop of skyscraper shells in decaying Greek Varosha.There a Crusader church appears in the garb of a cultural centre, while another serves as café. One tower built by Venetians holds a museum to Ottoman military might, and another holds the ghost of Sahkespeare"s Othello.
In the main square, the French Gothic cathedral, topped with a misshapen minaret, faces out at the facede of a Venetian palace supported by Greek marble columns from Salamis. Next door, the Faisal Islamic Bank , once an Ottoman school, looks across at a Turkish bath, now converted to a trendy bar and restaurant. Today"s Turkish inhabitants have blended the city"s relics so casually with their own daily needs, that the preservation of these monuments is almost synonymous with the routine maintenance of their public and offices.I? is by no menas a beautiful city. The modern town has the extensive industrial sprawl that belongs to a bustling port. The old walled town in the centre, scruffy and medival, and still with some areas of bombsite wasteland, seems sleepy and quiet in comparison.Gazima?usa has little of the sophistication of Girne or Lefko?a. Apart from the five-star Palm Beach, there are no hotels of tourist standard within the town. These all lie further north near Salamis. Good restaurants are few and far between, especially inside the walls. The surrounding landscape is flat and featureless, and the busy commercial port means that traffic is heavy, with many noisy goods vehicles.
North Cyprus Holidays One full day should ideally be devoted to Gazima?usa, to give yourself time to stroll in the streets of the old walled town seeking out the early churches and Venetian buildings, and to explore the walls and bastions fully. These are really Gazimagusa"s most remarkable feature today, and if you are limited to just a couple of hours, the essentials could be reduced to a drive round the walls from the outside, nothing especially the Land Gate with its drawbridge, and the Martinengo Bastion; a walk round Othello"s Tower; and a stroll round the St. Nicholas cathedral / Lala Mustapha Pasha mosque in the main squre. The ghost town of Varosha, modern Greek suburb which is now a sealed-off no man"s land, also holds an eerie fascination and is worth a quick look from the car.Just outside the walls on the southern side is the tourist office, open daily and very helpful.