Aside from its fascination mythological stories, Cyprus holds a very interesting history as well. Its position in the Mediterranean has caused Cyprus to possess rich cultural heritage with mixture of influences from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The historical record of Cyprus started from the Neolithic Age, which is around 7000 BC but the first Greek did not come to this island until 1400 BC. From then, the Greek started coming to Cyprus and by 1050 BC, it was fully considered as a Greek island. The culture and language were all taken from Greece. Because of its natural resources, it became a very wealthy country, which also had ten city-kingdoms in 800BC.

This prosperous place triggered some other countries to start conquering Cyprus. Starting from 750 BC, this island was conquered by Egypt, Assyria, and Persia. In addition, Alexander the Great claimed Cyprus as a part of his empire around 333 BC. But in 58 BC, the Roman Empire had taken over Cyprus, making it as a Christian country.

Afterwards, Cyprus became a part of Byzantium, as a result of the Roman Empire division, and the capital was Constantinople. From Christianity, Cyprus was changed into Catholicism when this country was defeated by Richard the Lionheart, who then sold this island to Knights Templar, which again, resold it to Guy de Lusignan. The Catholicism started in 1192 and during this year, Cyprus started the feudal system.

One of the attractions in Cyprus is the walls which surround Nicosia and Famagusta. These walls were built in 1489 as an entrance to the city of Nicosia. During 1571, Cyprus was invaded and became a part of the Ottoman Empire. It pushed out the Catholicism because Islam was introduced to Cyprus.

It was fully under Ottoman government until 1878 when the Britain started to run its administration in Cyprus, although it was still a part of the Ottoman Empire. Britain had the full possession of Cyprus when the First World War started because Ottoman joined the war on the German’s side.

In 1925, Cyprus declared itself as a Crown colony. But in 1955, there was a dispute against its colonial system. The dispute lasted in until 1960 when Cyprus got its independence. Furthermore, in 1963 Turkey threatened to invade, which they finally did in 1974 and took over one third of the island. Until now, despite the efforts to reunite the country, Cyprus is still a divided island.