Image: PNT-00171 – Francis Milverton Drake, Martinengo Bastion, Famagusta, etching, 1934.
There is a bastion on the south of Mustafa Pasha Masjid. During the medieval period, the surrounding area was the Jewish quarter.
During the Venetian period, it is believed that 34 Jewish houses with about 200 inhabitants lived there. Most of them were doctors, money-lenders and traded in medicinal herbs.
The Venetians did not trust the Jews, believing they were collaborating with the Ottomans, and in 1568 they were deported from Famagusta.
The bastion is also known as the Golden Bastion.
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
The ‘Did You Know’ series is made possible with the support of OPAP (Cyprus).
