- Karavas
Karavas (Greek: Καραβάς; Turkish: "Alsancak") is the sister
village ofLapithos in theKyrenia District ofCyprus . The village resides in the "de facto"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey). It is built on the ruins of Lampousa one of the ten ancient Greek city-kingdoms of Cyprus. The name Karavas is Greek from the word "karavi" (καράβι) which means ship.Karavas was captured by the
Turkish Army during the second Turkish invasion afterJuly 20 ,1974 . Prior to the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Karavas had a 100% Greek population of approximately 3000.The Turkish army, after surrounding both Lapithos and Karavas from 3 sides, attacked the morning of Tuesday
August 6 1974 deploying the full force of their 28th division. This division consisted of the 61st, and 23rd infantry regiments, a commando regiment, an amphibious commando regiment, a tank unit of 30 tanks with 3 tanks from the 39th division, 2 artillery units of 105 mm and 7,5/18 cannons, with the addition of the Navy that was bombarding the two villages from the sea.Fact|date=February 2007All
Greek Cypriot inhabitants were forced out of Karavas by Turkish military forces and have become refugees within Cyprus."Pente Mili" was one of the most beautiful beaches in Karavas.
The
Cyprus Treasure , an impressive gold and silver collection of vessels, dishes, and jewelry, was found here in 1902 and 1917. It can be found in theMetropolitan Museum of Art inNew York City and the Cyprus Museum inNicosia .Karavas is the ancestral village of the British
pop singer George Michael .
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.