Karavas
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Karavas (Greek: Καραβάς; Turkish: Alsancak) is the sister village of Lapithos in the Kyrenia District of Cyprus. 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 after July 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.[citation needed]
All 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 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia.
Karavas is the ancestral village of the British pop singer George Michael.
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