Newsroom
Ever wish you could travel back in time? Thanks to artificial intelligence, you just might get close.
A new AI-generated video is taking Cypriots on a powerful journey through 1970s Famagusta, the once-glamorous seaside city turned ghost town after the Turkish invasion of 1974. With lifelike scenes that feel plucked straight from memory, the short film walks viewers through sun-soaked beaches, busy hotel terraces, and bustling nightlife in the heart of what used to be Varosha.
And it’s not just nostalgia; it’s heartbreak in motion.
Set to the toe-tapping tune of “Twist and Shout,” the video captures slices of everyday life before the war: breakfast on the terrace of the King George Hotel, beers by the bar, afternoon strolls along JFK Avenue, and nights out under a spinning disco ball. The city looks alive, thriving, and heartbreakingly untouched by the history that followed.
Famagusta hasn’t looked like this in 50 years. After the 1974 invasion, the once-booming tourist hub was fenced off and abandoned under Turkish military control, its luxury hotels slowly crumbling, its streets silenced. For many Cypriots, the video is more than a digital novelty. It’s a tug at the heartstrings. A reminder of a life interrupted.
Thanks to AI, it’s now possible to “walk” those old streets again. Technology can’t give the city back—but for a few minutes, it lets you see it, hear it, and almost feel it.
Is this what they meant by time travel?
Watch the video and take a step into a vanished Cyprus. It’s a postcard from the past, delivered by the future.
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