Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E20.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und] Movie Subtitles

1 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:10,000 [narrator] Vestiges of opulence in an active no-man's-land. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,667 This ill-fated coup sealed the fate of this summer paradise. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,100 [narrator] Two moldering bastions with a hopeful tale. 4 00:00:22,166 --> 00:00:25,200 [Michele Mitchell] These structures saw slavery at its worst. 5 00:00:25,266 --> 00:00:28,166 But, ended up becoming constructions of freedom. 6 00:00:31,567 --> 00:00:36,166 [narrator] And, a frozen shell built on a burning passion. 7 00:00:36,166 --> 00:00:39,667 The whole story had began with one man's pursuit of love. 8 00:00:43,767 --> 00:00:44,967 [narrator] Decaying relics, 9 00:00:46,767 --> 00:00:48,800 ruins of lost worlds, 10 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:53,000 sites haunted by the past, 11 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,266 their secrets waiting to be revealed. 12 00:01:08,066 --> 00:01:11,400 In Eastern Cyprus is an entire neighborhood 13 00:01:11,467 --> 00:01:13,867 closed to the world for decades. 14 00:01:19,266 --> 00:01:23,066 [Lynette Nusbacher] Famagusta is a lovely city. 15 00:01:24,467 --> 00:01:29,500 But, as you move along the coast, suddenly, you get wire, 16 00:01:29,567 --> 00:01:30,000 you get signs telling you not to go any further, 17 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:31,000 you get signs telling you not to go any further, 18 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:35,867 you feel like you're in a warzone. 19 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,266 [narrator] Inside this forbidden zone is a mass of crumbling concrete. 20 00:01:44,166 --> 00:01:47,000 Several high-rise buildings face the sea 21 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,567 with these spectacular seafront views, 22 00:01:50,367 --> 00:01:51,967 they must have been hotels. 23 00:01:53,367 --> 00:01:55,667 [Geoff Wawro] Behind them, you have these extensive neighborhoods 24 00:01:55,667 --> 00:01:58,767 of beautiful middle-class homes all empty. 25 00:02:00,166 --> 00:02:01,000 [Sascha Auerbach] Weeds now overrun the deserted streets, 26 00:02:03,367 --> 00:02:05,567 nature is starting to reclaim this town. 27 00:02:07,967 --> 00:02:11,500 [narrator] There are no obvious signs of war damage. 28 00:02:11,567 --> 00:02:15,100 [narrator] So, what happened to this once jewel of the Mediterranean? 29 00:02:16,467 --> 00:02:20,800 [Auerbach] One time, it's streets were packed with tourists. 30 00:02:20,867 --> 00:02:24,467 But, one summer, they were gone and they never came back again. 31 00:02:33,500 --> 00:02:35,767 [Ata Atun] Two checkpoints are still existing. 32 00:02:35,767 --> 00:02:40,567 And, without accessing from the checkpoints you cannot enter to Varosha. 33 00:02:42,567 --> 00:02:44,266 [narrator] Beyond the barricades 34 00:02:44,266 --> 00:02:48,667 lies a warren of deserted streets and derelict buildings. 35 00:02:50,767 --> 00:02:54,867 Professor Ata Atun imagined a very different future 36 00:02:54,867 --> 00:02:58,600 when he was a young civil engineer in the early 1970s. 37 00:03:00,100 --> 00:03:01,000 I had to work in this town, 38 00:03:01,567 --> 00:03:04,400 so there are lots of buildings which I designed 39 00:03:04,467 --> 00:03:08,467 with my brother who was an architect. 40 00:03:08,467 --> 00:03:13,300 When I come here I always look at it with pleasure 41 00:03:13,367 --> 00:03:15,467 with the memories of the past. 42 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,900 [narrator] These are the petrified relics of Varosha. 43 00:03:21,967 --> 00:03:25,867 The closed off southern quarter of Famagusta City. 44 00:03:28,867 --> 00:03:30,000 [Wawro] Varosha was just kind of a sleepy, back water, fishing village. 45 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,000 [Wawro] Varosha was just kind of a sleepy, back water, fishing village. 46 00:03:33,467 --> 00:03:37,467 And, because of the tourist potential of that stretch of coastline 47 00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:40,266 in the 1960s it starts getting developed as a beach resort. 48 00:03:42,300 --> 00:03:49,066 With its modern investment, with its massive first-rate hotels, 49 00:03:49,066 --> 00:03:53,700 it started to look a lot like Miami Beach. 50 00:03:53,767 --> 00:03:57,100 This was where all the A-listers went, people like Brigitte Bardot, 51 00:03:57,166 --> 00:03:59,900 Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor. 52 00:04:01,867 --> 00:04:05,266 [narrator] A shopping district lined with designer boutiques 53 00:04:05,266 --> 00:04:07,367 catered to the rich and famous. 54 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:12,100 [Atun] There are lots of shops, very nice places 55 00:04:12,100 --> 00:04:15,500 which were selling products of the well-known companies. 56 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:22,667 So, Varosha became, not just a resort, 57 00:04:22,667 --> 00:04:25,500 Varosha became the resort. 58 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,600 [narrator] Yet, beneath the glamour here, 59 00:04:29,667 --> 00:04:30,000 mistrust had been festering across the island for centuries. 60 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,000 mistrust had been festering across the island for centuries. 61 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:42,600 [Nusbacher] In the middle-ages Cyprus was a Greek island. 62 00:04:42,667 --> 00:04:50,066 But, a sizable ethnically Turkish population comes to Cyprus as well. 63 00:04:50,066 --> 00:04:53,467 And, there is off-again, on-again tension 64 00:04:53,467 --> 00:04:58,000 between the Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus. 65 00:05:00,567 --> 00:05:01,000 [narrator] Then, came a moment 66 00:05:02,133 --> 00:05:05,400 that threatened to bring these tensions to a brutal climax. 67 00:05:08,467 --> 00:05:13,600 For a long time, Cyprus was effectively a British colony. 68 00:05:14,700 --> 00:05:19,400 And, in 1960, Cyprus gets its independence. 69 00:05:19,467 --> 00:05:24,667 And there is hope, and there is promise, and there is joy. 70 00:05:24,667 --> 00:05:28,867 And then, it all goes a little bit dark. 71 00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:35,166 [narrator] A political partnership between the ethnic Greek 72 00:05:35,166 --> 00:05:37,467 and Turkish communities was established. 73 00:05:41,467 --> 00:05:46,467 But, the islands first president, Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios 74 00:05:46,467 --> 00:05:49,000 wanted Cyprus unified with Greece. 75 00:05:51,266 --> 00:05:56,667 In 1963, he proposed controversial changes in the constitution 76 00:05:56,667 --> 00:05:59,767 that would bring an end to the power sharing arrangements. 77 00:06:03,667 --> 00:06:07,367 The Turkish Cypriots, naturally, opposed unification with Greece. 78 00:06:08,266 --> 00:06:10,266 [narrator] A fuse had been lit. 79 00:06:10,900 --> 00:06:12,667 And, both sides exploded. 80 00:06:14,667 --> 00:06:18,266 This ignited a killing spree in the capital of Nicosia. 81 00:06:26,667 --> 00:06:29,000 [narrator] Armed factions roamed the streets. 82 00:06:29,066 --> 00:06:30,000 And, homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze. 83 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:31,000 And, homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze. 84 00:06:35,367 --> 00:06:38,967 In 1964 The United Nations stepped in 85 00:06:38,967 --> 00:06:42,200 and separated the capitals Greek and Turkish communities. 86 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,000 In the aftermath of this bloody clash, 87 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,800 a buffer zone was created known as the Green Line. 88 00:06:48,867 --> 00:06:51,000 And, this was patrolled by UN troops. 89 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:58,667 [narrator] Like Berlin, just a few years earlier, Nicosia became a divided city. 90 00:07:01,767 --> 00:07:08,367 Varosha survived the conflict, but the stage had been set for its downfall. 91 00:07:08,367 --> 00:07:12,667 [Auerbach] The buffer zone created the illusion of peace on the surface. 92 00:07:12,667 --> 00:07:15,367 But, in July 1974, when Varosha 93 00:07:15,367 --> 00:07:18,867 would have been packed with tourists tensions came to a head. 94 00:07:22,567 --> 00:07:25,467 [narrator] Frustrated that Cyprus was still divided 95 00:07:25,467 --> 00:07:27,867 the government in Athens decided to act. 96 00:07:30,567 --> 00:07:31,000 Greek officers lead troops to the presidential palace and burned it to the ground. 97 00:07:36,567 --> 00:07:39,367 Their target, President Makarios, 98 00:07:39,367 --> 00:07:41,166 narrowly escaped with his life. 99 00:07:43,567 --> 00:07:46,367 [Nusbacher] The people who are taking over 100 00:07:46,367 --> 00:07:49,567 the Greek dominated government 101 00:07:49,567 --> 00:07:54,166 are openly saying, that they're going to seek unification 102 00:07:54,166 --> 00:07:58,000 with the military government in Greece. 103 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:00,000 [Auerbach] Five days later, the Turkish government 104 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,000 [Auerbach] Five days later, the Turkish government 105 00:08:01,967 --> 00:08:04,767 responded by initiating Operation Attila, 106 00:08:04,767 --> 00:08:09,266 sending in thousands of troops to protect Turkish Cypriot citizens. 107 00:08:10,367 --> 00:08:14,500 The Turkish armed forces airdrop a thousand 108 00:08:14,567 --> 00:08:18,667 airborne light infantry into northern Cyprus....