 The Stones of Famagusta 
A Documentary on the Medieval City of Famagusta, Cyprus
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The Stones of Famagusta: Story of a Forgotten City, 2008
Canada & Britain
Northern Cyprus
U.S.A./Turkish Cyprus/Republic of Cyprus
70 minutes
Allan Langdale & Dan Frodsham
Allan Langdale & Dan Frodsham
Dan Frodsham
Allan Langdale
Dan Frodsham
Allan Langdale
Allan Langdale
Allan Langdale
Idowu Sholanke (Nigeria), Isik Atay (Turkey),
Alessandro Caciotto (Italy)
Synopsis:
Canadian art historian Allan Langdale takes viewers on a whirlwind bicycle tour of a
remarkable and forgotten city: Famagusta, on the eastern shores of the island of Cyprus in the
eastern Mediterranean. Considered to be the world’s richest city in the 14th century,
Famagusta was the center of a French crusader kingdom for three hundred years. Numerous
examples of French gothic architecture still stand in the confines of the walled city, whose
complete ramparts are among the most impressive in the world. The Venetians also ruled the
city before being conquered by the Ottomans and each culture left behind remnants of their
magnificent architecture. Gothic cathedrals and churches like those in Paris or Reims—now
with minarets—sit alongside Ottoman bath houses, Byzantine churches, and Venetian gates
and palaces. The city walls themselves, with a dozen enormous bastions and a castle, are one
of the most unique and well-preserved examples of medieval and renaissance military
architecture.
The story of the city’s meteoric rise to prominence and precipitous collapse into oblivion is
told through the architecture of the town’s many conquerors, building to the climax of the
famous siege of Famagusta of 1571, when a small group of Venetians held off a massive
Ottoman army for almost a year. Today, the picturesque ruins of the vast churches are still
riddled with the iron cannon balls fired in that conflict.
Famagusta’s two-mile long city walls enclose one of the world’s richest concentrations of
historical architecture and in 2007 the city was placed on the World Monument Fund’s 100
Most Endangered Sites. The film helps focus world attention on these impressive monuments
which are little known outside of Cyprus.
Contact Allan Langdale at langdale@filmandmedia.ucsb.edu or at 805.722.5731