A sign warning people not to enter a derelict building in the district of Varosha (located in the city of Famagusta) was a busy seaside resort some 40 years ago. But after the Turkish invasion of 1974, it became a ghost town, closed off and guarded by the military. The neighbourhood is surrounded by a large fence with barbed wire and signs warning that it is a 'forbidden zone', 'no photo/video' and 'no man's land'. There is also a UN buffer zone between South and Northern Cyprus, which separates the island.

In 2020, the city was reopened to visitors.