Cyprus is the only EU member state where an entire city quarter has been frozen since 1974 — where hotel guest books end on August 14th, abandoned cars rust on beach roads and nature has reclaimed what 40,000 residents left behind in hours. Tourism specialist Katerina Antoniou notes that Cyprus has become a "unique" setting for urbex fans drawn to "abandoned military bases, UN posts… places untouched for half a century." Beyond Varosha, the buffer zone running across the entire island preserves a 1974 time capsule that includes an abandoned airport with a Cyprus Airways plane still on the runway. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in Cyprus, selected from our Cyprus & Turkey Urbex Map — 200+ verified GPS locations.
1. Varosha – Famagusta, North Cyprus — 100+ Abandoned Hotels, 40,000 Residents Fled 1974, Ghost Town Partially Reopened 2020, Mediterranean Ghost Town (Known Location)
By 1974, the city had over 100 hotels. In the lobby of each, the guest books are filled in up to August 14. The Turkish army has been billeted in two hotels; the rest are slowly being reclaimed by the earth. The city started to become popular with the jet-set. Paul Newman filmed Exodus here in the spring of 1960, while Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor stayed at the Argolis on their summer holidays. Brigitte Bardot was photographed in her bathing suit on the beach. People would say it was the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean. Partially reopened to visitors in 2020 — free entry, bicycle hire available. Drones forbidden. The most extraordinary ghost town in Europe.
🔗 Sources: Abandoned Spaces – Varosha | The New European – Inside Varosha
2. Nicosia International Airport – UN Buffer Zone — Abandoned 1974, Cyprus Airways Plane on Runway, 1970s Terminal Intact, Dust on Every Surface (Known Location)
The terminal had a weird atmosphere — fascinating and tragic and poignant, a link to a simpler, more innocent time before bloodshed and partition. Outside the terminal, the runway points from north to south, as if trying to join both sides of the island. On the tarmac outside a large derelict hangar sits an old Cyprus Airways plane, waiting for its next flight — a flight that would never come. Over 40 years later, its doors and nose are missing and it is covered with rust. The last technical flight from Nicosia took place in 1977 — the derelict aircraft remain there today. Access is only possible with official UN authorisation — never attempt independent entry into the buffer zone.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Cyprus →
3. Ledra Palace Hotel – Nicosia Buffer Zone — Built 1946, Luxury Hotel Until 1974, Now UN Peacekeeping HQ, Bullet Marks Still Visible on Walls
Built in 1946 in Venetian Palazzo style, the Ledra Palace was the grandest hotel in Nicosia until the Turkish invasion of 1974 trapped it in the no-man's land between north and south. Now the headquarters of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the building is accessible via the Ledra Palace checkpoint — one of the main crossing points between north and south Nicosia. Visitors describe bullet marks still visible on the walls, abandoned rooms and the specific atmosphere of luxury turned military headquarters turned heritage symbol. A Wanderlog reviewer notes: "seeing the building up close, with bullet marks still visible on its walls, is deeply unsettling — in the buffer zone between North and South Cyprus, time feels frozen." GPS in our Cyprus & Turkey Urbex Map.
4. Abandoned Village – South Cyprus, 1974 Population Exchange — Empty Since 1974, Stone Houses, Olive Groves, Sandstone Architecture (Exclusively on Our Map)
The 1974 partition displaced over 210,000 people — Greek Cypriots moving south, Turkish Cypriots moving north — leaving entire villages on both sides standing exactly as their inhabitants left them. In the Republic of Cyprus, several villages emptied of their Turkish Cypriot population in 1974 stand in various states of abandonment: stone houses with shuttered windows, Orthodox chapels converted then abandoned, agricultural infrastructure — olive presses, irrigation channels — intact but no longer operating. The specific quality of this abandonment is its human completeness — not economic decline but enforced departure in a single day. GPS in our Cyprus & Turkey Urbex Map.
5. Abandoned Amusement Park – Nicosia — Pre-1974 Leisure Infrastructure, Go-Kart Track, Overgrown by Nature, City Centre Location (Off the Radar — Our Map Only)
Urbex enthusiast Christos Zoumides hoists himself up a wall, climbs through rusted bars and walks across broken glass to reach an abandoned go-kart track where his family used to take him as a child — one of the abandoned leisure sites in Nicosia that AFP identifies as drawing urbex fans. Pre-1974 Nicosia had a leisure infrastructure that was simply never replaced when the city was divided; several amusement and recreational sites stand in progressive abandonment within the Republic of Cyprus portion of the city. Find them on our Cyprus & Turkey Urbex Map.
Safety Tips
- Buffer zone — NEVER enter independently: the UN spokesman warns of 47 remaining minefields and thousands of armed soldiers on both sides of the Green Line — "it would be very easy for a civilian to be mistaken for one of the opposing members"
- Varosha rules: no drones, no access inside buildings, no removing objects — all strictly enforced by Turkish Cypriot police
- Passport always: required at all Green Line crossings between north and south Cyprus
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Cyprus?
Varosha in Famagusta — the Mediterranean ghost town whose 40,000 residents fled the 1974 Turkish invasion in hours and never returned. Once the most glamorous resort in the Eastern Mediterranean, attracting Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot, it now has nature growing through its 100+ abandoned hotels. Partially reopened to visitors since 2020, freely accessible by bicycle.
Why is Cyprus so good for urbex?
Cyprus has become a "unique" setting for urbex fans because the most popular sites evoke historic disasters, tragedies and wars — and Cyprus's 1974 partition created abandonment at a scale and completeness unavailable anywhere else in Europe. Entire city quarters, an operating airport, a luxury hotel and hundreds of individual buildings were frozen mid-use in a single day and have remained untouched for fifty years.
Can I visit Varosha?
Yes — Varosha was partially reopened to visitors in 2020 by the Turkish Cypriot authorities. Entry is free, no permit required. Drones are forbidden and police check bags at the entrance. Bicycle hire is available at the entrance (card only, approximately 150 Turkish Lira). Access inside buildings is not permitted — all structures are cordoned off for safety. Photography of the accessible streets and the visible derelict buildings beyond the cordons is permitted.
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