History of Cyprus

By City:
Larnaca - Historical places like city-kingdom Kition in Larnaca City.

Nicosia - See the last capital divided capital city in Europe

Paphos - History of Pafos city, everything u need to know, historical places, momuments, museums.

Limassol - History of Lemesos in Cyprus. Visit the old city-kingdoms of Limassol.

Historical Highlights

9000 - 7000 BC
Stone tools and 'kitchen waste', excavated at Cape Gata, prove that Cyprus was inhabited during the Middle Stone Age by hunters and gatherers.

7000 - 3800 BC
In the Late Stone Age the first farms are established on the island.

3800 - 2500 BC
During the Copper Stone Age, the first tools, weapons and jewellery are produced from metal.

2500 - 1600 BC
Anatolian immigrants used to working with bronze settle on Cyprus. Towns such as Engomi and Lapithos trade with Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor. Farmers use metal ploughshares, and the workship of bulls becomes widespread.

1600 - 1050 BC
Mycenaeans colonise Cyprus and Greek culture gains a foothold. The towns build huge Cyclopean walls to defend themselves against attacks from the 'People from the Sea'

1200 BC onwards
Extensive Aphrodite cult in Old Paphos.

1050 - 500 BC
During the Archaic period, iron-working gains appreciably in importance. Yhe Phoenicians, based in Kition, establish a monopoly on external trade. Persians, Assyrians and Egyptians vie for political dominance. Royal tombs are built at Salamis.

700 BC
Assyrian king Sargon II subjugates the city kingdoms of Cyprus.

650 BC
Royal Tombs at Tamassos.

540 BC onwards
Persian rule.

500 - 331 BC
Resistance against Persian rule preoccupies the islanders during much of the Classical period.

480 BC
At the Battle of Salamis, Cyprus joins the Persiands against Athens.

411-374 BC
King Evagoras, who united the city-states from the city of Salamis, is unable to shake off the Persian yoke.

333BC
Alexander the Great, with Cypriot kings support, defeats the Persians at Issos.

331 - 58 BC
At the beginning of the Hellenistic period, the Cypriot princes acclaim Alaxander the Great as their liberator. Cyprus becomes a Hellenistic cultural province.

323 BC
Death of Alexander the Great. Cyprus becomes embroiled in various fights to succeed him.

312 BC
Zeno of citium (Kition) founds Stoicism in Athens.

294 BC
The island falls under the control of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty.

50 BC onwards
The beginning of the long period of peace, the Pax Romana.

45 -46 AD
The apostles Paul and Barnabas arrive as missionaries and convert the Roman preoconnsul Segious Paulus to Christianity in Paphos. Temples to Apollo Hylates in Salamis, Soli and kourion are built.

115 - 116 AD
Major Jewish uprising culminates in the expulsion of all Jews.

313 AD
Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.

332/342 AD
Earthquake and famine devastate the island. Paphos and Salamis are destroyed, but Salamis is rebuild and renamed 'Constantia'.

395 AD
With the partition of the Roman Empire, Cyprus becomes part of the Byzantine Empire.

488 AD
Emperor Zeno confirms the independence (autokephalia) of the Cypriot church.

649 AD
Cyprus is occupied by the Arabs. By 688 it has to pay tribute to both the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate.

730 - 843 AD
The Iconoclastic Controversy rages over the use of religious images.

965 - 1185 AD
Middle Byzantine Period. Cyprus flourishes. Towns include Kiti, Episkopi and Lapithos. Churches and monasteries are also founded, as well as a number of castles such as Buffavento.

1191 AD
Richard the Lioheart conquers the island on his way to the Holy Land. He then sells it to the Knights Templar.

1192 - 1489 AD
Cyprus passes to the Frankish knight, Guy de Lusignan. Catholicism becomes the state religion.

1426 AD
The island os overrun by a marauding expedition from Egyptm and forced to pay tribute to Cairo.

1489 AD
Caterina Cornaro, widow of the last Lusignan king, Hames II, bequeaths Cyprus to the Venetian Republic.

1489 - 1571 AD
Venetian rule, Byzantine painting flourished around the turn of the century.

1571 AD
Turish troops under Mustafa Pasha occupy Cyprus. The island becomes part of the Ottoman empire.

1660 AD
The sublime Porte bestows the right of independent representation upon biships.

1774 AD
The archbishop is recognised as the representative of the christian population.

1821 AD
Mainland Greece's war of liberation against Ottoman rule results in massacres, and looting against the Greeks on Cyprus.

1878 AD
The Turks lease Cyprus to Great Britain.

1914 AD
Britain annexes Cyprus.

1930 AD
Economic boom. Attempts are amde to unify Cyprus with Greece and to liberate the island from British rule.

1950
In a referendum organised by the Orthodox Church, 96 percent of Greek Cypriots vote for union with Greece (enosis).

1955
EOKA's armed campaign against British installations and representatives of colonial power begins.

1996
The Republic of Cyprus is formed, with Archbishop Makarios as its first president.

1963
Makarios demands a constitutional amendment which the Turks perceive as a threat to their rights. First armed conflicts between the two ethnic groups, who begin to form enclaves.

1964
The United Nations peacekeeping force is stationed on Cyprus.

1974
Coup carried out against Makarios by the Cypriot National Guard. In July, Turkish troops invade the north of the island.

1983
Turkish Cypriots declare the north of the island the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' but the new state is recognised only by Turkey.

1998
Negotiations on Cyprus joining the EU begin in Brussels.