Venetian Cyprus and the Ottoman Conquest

The Republic of Venice controlled Cyprus as an eastern Mediterranean possession from 1489. Venetian officials governed a predominantly Greek Orthodox population, fortified Nicosia and Famagusta and used the island as a commercial and military outpost within the Stato da Màr.

Ottoman forces invaded in 1570, capturing Nicosia before besieging Famagusta. The final Venetian stronghold surrendered in August 1571, ending Venetian rule and beginning more than three centuries of Ottoman administration.

It is also the historical environment conventionally associated with Shakespeare’s Othello and Naomi Kelsey’s Bianca-centred reimagining Pale Mistress.