OTHELLO CASTLE

This medieval fort (Othello Kulesi, Πύργος του Οθέλο/Pyrgos tou Othelo) is the most famous part of Famagusta's fortifications. It's not really a castle, and Othello is a fictional character. Its current name was given by the British in the ^19th century. For it was here that William Shakespeare set the action of his play Othello or the Moor of Venice. Built in the early ^14th century by Amaury de Lusignan (1272-1310), regent and governor of Cyprus, this defensive structure with its four square towers earned the French nickname "d'imprenable forteresse" (impregnable fortress). At the end of the ^15th century, the castle was remodeled by the Venetians, who replaced the square towers with round ones that were more resistant to artillery fire. Well-preserved, the fort is made up of large rooms and corridors used to transport ammunition. In the courtyard are stone cannonballs (for catapults) and steel cannonballs (for cannons). The moat was drained in the early ^20th century to reduce the risk of spreading malaria. When Shakespeare wrote his play in 1603, the city had already fallen to the Ottomans. The long siege and capture of Famagusta in 1571 had left its mark on Europe. The writer drew freely on the facts. He sets the action in a port city in Cyprus, but without specifying which one. And he takes the name of Cristoforo Moro, former Venetian governor of the island (1506-1508), and transforms it into Othello the Moor, now an Arab soldier.