The ancient city of Salamis (greek: Salamin) was founded in 11 BC on the east coast of Cyprus, close to the modern city of Famagusta. The first mentions of the city are related to the period of the widely-known Trojan War. Legend says that Salamis was founded by Teucer (one of the War heroes in ancient Troy).
The ancient city-state was the capital of the whole ancient Cyprus for many centuries. Salamis was so important that its conquest meant the transfer of control over the whole island.
Besides its political clout, the city-state had one more considerable advantage – a great harbour that could accommodate a huge fleet (especially on the scale of the ancient world) and was a major commercial point. The trade between Cyprus and its neighbors (Phoenicia, Egypt and other Middle East states of that period) took place there.
In 1 AC Salamis became the hub of Christianity in Cyprus, namely the place where the Church of Cyprus was founded by Barnabas the Apostle. By the way, relics of St. Barnabas are buried in Salamis, too.
This rich, flourishing city, that existed for 2,000 years, was destroyed by the Arabs in 648 BC and hasn’t ever been restored. The remaining population moved to neighboring Famagusta a few kilometres away. The excavations of the ancient city were carried out from 1954 to 1974 and haven’t been finished yet. Today Salamis is open for tourists as an open-air museum. Here you can see a well-preserved gymnasium, Roman thermal baths, amphitheatre, public baths and a lot of other buildings.
The Salamis amphitheatre was built in 1 BC. This magnificent antique construction can house up to 15,000 spectators. As a matter of fact, it’s the biggest amphitheatre in the whole island of Cyprus.
The Roman theatre has survived almost intact to this day. After reconstruction, it has been open for visitors. Nowadays various cultural events, concerts and festivals are being held there.
In summer time, you can listen to music of different genres (from classical arias to rock-concerts by world-famous stars) there. The ticket costs are more than reasonable and, as a rule, amount to about 40TL even for the concerts of such musicians as Lara Fabian.
Today you are invited to enjoy the ballet of “The Seasons” that was performed in the theatre last summer.
