{"id":122874,"date":"2023-12-17T10:01:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/?p=122874"},"modified":"2023-12-17T10:01:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:01:23","slug":"abandoned-cyprus-eerie-photos-of-a-former-beach-resort-frozen-in-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gendermyn.com\/travel\/abandoned-cyprus-eerie-photos-of-a-former-beach-resort-frozen-in-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned Cyprus: Eerie photos of a former beach resort frozen in time"},"content":{"rendered":"
Forgotten churches, an apocalyptic car show room, barren boutiques and tower blocks being reclaimed by nature.<\/span><\/p>\n These haunting photographs capture the once-booming beach resort of Varosha, located on coastline known in bygone times as the Riviera of the Eastern Mediterranean.<\/span><\/p>\n Varosha lies in a UN buffer zone that separates Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus, and is\u00a0under the control of the Turkish military. The Greek Cypriot residents fled in 1974 when Turkey invaded – and Varosha has been a ghost town ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n The spellbinding pictures were taken by\u00a0<\/span>Dimitri Bourriau, who specialises in capturing the beauty of abandoned buildings – relics of a past world, frozen in time.<\/span><\/p>\n The French photographer, who has 58,000 followers\u00a0on Instagram, turned his lens towards lost-in-time destinations ten years ago. His work has taken him to countries such as Morocco,\u00a0<\/span>Greece<\/span>, Georgia, <\/span>Kazakhstan<\/span>,\u00a0Armenia<\/span> and the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n Asked what inspired the Cyprus project, Dimitri, 40, told MailOnline Travel: ‘Man is capable of building fascinating things. Unfortunately, some places are falling into oblivion. I try to remember the places before they disappear. My photos are almost a work of memory in certain cases.’<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n French photographer Dimitri Bourriau explains that Varosha (pictured) has been ‘guarded by the Turkish army for more than 50 years’ after Turkey invaded in 1974<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An old school in Varosha that has been left to decay. ‘The interior seemed interesting to me but I couldn’t find any way of getting in,’ Dimitri explains<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Signs pointing to Varosha’s Town Bazaar are still in place at the eerie ‘ghost town’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dimitri wanders the streets of Varosha and photographs its crumbling buildings<\/p>\n The Varosha district has ‘a long and tragic history’, Dimitri comments, adding: ‘Nothing could stop nature from reclaiming its rights over the area’s various buildings’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pictured: An old Toyota dealership on the resort’s main avenue has been left to decay<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dimitri captures what strikes him as an ‘impressive cascade of vegetation’ on the front of the Angolis Hotel Flats, one of several large hotel ‘ghosts’ in the area<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The vegetation has spread most rampantly in the northern quarter (pictured), Dimitri explains<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dimitri says he was drawn to the Brutalist architecture of this old Orthodox church situated in the north of Varosha<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Plants are taking over an abandoned hotel in the above picture, which shows tangled vines twisting their way up the front of the building and wrapping round its balconies<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here lies the outer shell of what was once a bustling high-street shop, according to Dimitri<\/p>\n This abandoned apartment building casts far-reaching shadows on the ground (left). On the right is a deserted hotel once bustling with tourists visiting nearby beaches<\/p>\n LEFT: Nature is reclaiming a former women’s clothing store RIGHT:\u00a0‘This little street is very interesting,’ says Dimitri of this photograph. ‘In the distance, we can see another Orthodox church in the forbidden zone’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lost in time: A small deserted house now covered by vegetation<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taken in north Varosha, this image shows a deserted hotel standing empty next to two palm trees – a reminder of the area’s former identity as a popular beach resort<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some of the letters have fallen off the shopfront of this supermarket, which once served the local residents and passing tourists of Varosha<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A rusty security grille is still in place at Varosha’s Bank of Cyprus, despite it being abandoned with no cash machines in sight<\/p>\n LEFT: An abandoned house in Varosha, firmly closed ‘to avoid intrusions’. Reflecting on the area’s past, Dimitri added: ‘The residents had to leave the area in a hurry in the 1970s. They were never allowed to return.’ RIGHT: This eerie photo shows a bell tower standing in front of a ghostly tower block<\/p>\n
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