There are no any other destinations in Mediterranean Sea where you can turn back to centuries while you are wandering along among the crusade castles, temples or while you are observing the mythology from the mosaics of Salamis. Since the beginning of time, the island has always been a much-desired paradise and the meeting place of different kingdoms, civilizations and others! While there is no way to say when Cyprus first inhabitants lived, it is believed that as loon as 8500 BC there was settlements on the island and the first inhabitants came from eastern Anatolian or Syria. Before Cyprus annexed by the Roman Empire in 58 BC, the island was colonized by Phoenicians, Archaeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians and Greek powers. In 43 AD Christianity came to Cyprus with the efforts of St Barnabas and in 330 AD the island become part of the Eastern Rome and then part of the Byzantine Empire. In 1191 Richard the Lionheart, on his way to the Holy Land to fight the 3rd Crusade, conquered the island and then married in Cyprus. a year later Richard sold the island to the Knight Templar, however they unable to control the Cypriots. They returned the island to Richard who sold it to the French nobleman Guy the Lusignan. The Lusignan dynasty ruled the island for the next three hundred years. With the rule of Frankish nobility, the things start to change in Cyprus and the island experienced the wealthiest and the serfdom was reduced effectively. The Lusignan King James II married Caterina Cornaro, daughter of Venice, in 1472. When the king died his son James III, who was born in 1473, crowned immediately as King also died a year later, leaving the young Queen Caterina. However the young Queen was forced to abdicate to give the island to the republic of Venice in 1489. The Venetians saw Cyprus as a military base and built fortifications all around the island however the rule was so unpleasant by the islanders. In 1571 Cyprus become the part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks abolished serfdom and encourage the Orthodox Church restoring their privileges abolished by the Lusignans and Venetians, and instated the Orthodox Church as the Church of Cyprus. In return for help from the Britain against the Russian, the Ottomans leased Cyprus to Britain. However when Ottomans sides with the Germans in the First World War Britain stopped paying for the leases of the island and Cyprus annexed by the Britain. In 1925 under the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey renounce claim to Cyprus in favor of Britain. Under the British rule, the island saw a lot of communal strife between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots who were the cohabitants of the island. Finally in 1960 Cyprus was granted full independence. However because of the following hostilities between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots the island was divided, in 1974, with the two communities living under separate administration. Now the Turkish Cypriots occupy the northern part of the island and the Greek Cypriots occupy the south part. While there is NO arm conflict between the communities, the negotiations had been carried out under the auspices of the UN and the UN Secretary General in order to find the common solutions.