Ghost Town Varosha - Cyprus : Investigating Tangible and Intangible Dimension of a Contested Heritage

A large majority of the academic work regarding Cyprus revolves around the conflict. After the 1974 division of the island, this conflict started a legitimacy feud over the ownership of the architecture and urban fabric; influencing the tangible and intangible heritage of the Cypriots. Because of this conflict, cultural heritage -that should be considered shared and common- became a tool in politically motivated actions. During these actions, others' historical narratives have been neglected and their traumatic pasts have been carelessly eradicated. This has been the case since the division of the island. Luckily -and unluckily- for Varosha, the urban area has been closed off to public access ever since, which made direct demolition of the buildings

Although there was no intentional destruction of tangible urban contexts, the ghost town status had opened another dimension for Varosha. While the glory day memories have been trapped inside the empty streets of Varosha for 46 years with buildings taken over by nature, the district has evolved into some empty shell that symbolizes the traumatic past that has been frozen since 1974. What Varosha represented before 1974 and what it has become now have made the place a contested heritage. This thesis explores the requirement of considering a conflicted space as a heritage to manage a fair reconciliation with the past. It will investigate how the intangible values associated with the site can contribute to bridging the discrepancy bet what is formally recognized and valued and what is left out on purpose in this conflicted space. This thesis uses mixed qualitative methods; outlining the existing literature on mental mapping and mapping of the built spaces. Using a ghost town as a case study, this research opens up a broader question of where ghost towns locate themselves in the heritage arena.

By investigating a heritage in contested geography where life has been frozen for more than 46 years, this research hopes to bring new knowledge into defining contested heritage and how oral history can be interpreted in the investigation of it. Both the tangible and intangible values could and should play a key role in the future making of this contested space. The research problem is that there is no defined or recognized heritage of Varosha, which puts this contested space in a vulnerable position in any future making plans as it is a post-war settlement and a ghost town. The setting is a contested landscape in Cyprus, a district just in between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot administrations, where the long-standing Cyprus problem has characterized this space as a ghost town. Given the unresolved nature of the problem and many failed attempts in the re-opening the district, ongoing plans lack the input of its cultural values from both Greek and Turkish Cypriots sides.

By contrast to several other Cypriot settlements which have been bulldozed due to contestation over their ownership, Varosha's historic architecture, which predates the first of modern architecture in Cyprus, carries additional value and its ghost town status prevented the destruction of its buildings. These values most notably include the flourishing of the settlements in the 1970s and the combination of both happy and sad memories loaded with loss and trauma following the 1974 incidents. Amid the new decisions regarding Varosha and the opening of this post-war settlement in October 2020 without any thoughts on the psychological impact on the communities associated with it), the urgency of the recognition of both the tangible and intangible values cannot be overstated. This recent partial reopening has triggered new dynamics of remembering and contestation for this urban site. With the recent opening of its two main streets, Varosha has evolved from being a ghost town into being an open-air museum of trauma. Managing this traumatic past in a fair and just manner means addressing all values.