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A ghost town that was once home to the Knights Templar
November 15, 2021
Rich with a history stretching back thousands of years, Cyprus has no dearth of ghost villages, however few of them have received as much attention as Foinikas, perhaps due to the legends associated with it.
Our story begins in the summer of 1191. A victorious Richard I raises his flag on the then Byzantine fortress of Nicosia, before embarking on a campaign of conquest to re-capture the Holy Land for Christendom.
Richard the Lionheart considered Cyprus an unnecessary and unwanted distraction, after a storm had driven his fleet apart, wrecking several ships along the shore of Cyprus, bringing about the capture of his fiancée and sister, including the confiscation of English treasure, thus forcing him to conquer Cyprus and ultimately become its ruler.