Othello Castle

About this place

Othello Castle, or Othello's Tower, is a castle in Famagusta in eastern Cyprus, guarding the harbour of the walled city. The Lusignans built it in the 14th century, and the Venetians later altered it. Its modern name comes from a stage note in Shakespeare's Othello. It was built to protect the port from attack and was also the main entrance to Famagusta. It was called the impenetrable fortress, because the deep ditches around it made it almost impossible to attack. When Cyprus passed to Venice, its square towers were replaced with round ones suited to artillery, and the Lion of Saint Mark was carved over the entrance with the date 1492. You see high honey-coloured stone walls and a wide dusty courtyard ringed by walls with arched windows. A stone relief of a winged lion sits over the gate, inside is a long Gothic hall with a vaulted ceiling, and from the walls you see the harbour and the town's minarets. It is inside the walled city of Famagusta, about 400 metres from the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque. Visitors from the south cross at the checkpoints with a passport, and the Republic of Cyprus treats entry through the north's airport as illegal entry.