It was just fabulous to be there. All things are Amazing 👌

Ancient and beautiful a must see place in North Cyprus

Excellent medieval military architecture .

There are better places to visit.

Wery nice

Love it

Must see.

Nice place

Perfect

When I was here in October 2018 it was free entrance. Great reconstruction and conservation works under EU support just finished. Good views from upper parts of the bastion. Really impressed inside building off the bastion. Big number of historical photos and information tables inside. Please not that building could be closed in the evening time.

It is one of the most historical place in Famagusta.

Part of Famagusta City Walls, Martinengo is a superb example of renaissance military architecture. Also known as Tophane, it's in the north west corner of the walled city, in a peaceful and secluded setting. Cyprus was a Crusader state from 1192 to 1489 and ruled by the French Lusignans. Then it was ruled by Venice until 1571when the Ottomans conquered. When the Venetians arrived they realised the walls of cities weren't capable of modern defence, so started modifications and renovations. In Famagusta, the weak spot was the north west corner so in 1550, Venetian architect Giovanni San Michelle arrived to redesign and strengthen this area. While works were still ongoing, he died in 1559 and was buried in St Nicholas Cathedral in the town centre. Reconstruction was continued by Luigi Brugnoli and finished in 1562. The only arrowhead shaped bastion, pointing inland, it's one of the Middle Age’s great examples of military architecture. The arrowhead shape gave it a large field of fire away from the walls, as well as allowing it to cover any breach of the moat area. The design was inspired by fortifications in Florence designed by Michelangelo, and dominated battlefields for 300 years, even taking into account cannons and artillery fire to improve both defence and offence. Walls were 6m thick in places and used Earth to absorb any impact. Surrounded by ditches, it covered a huge area allowing it to house the largest Venetian cannons, so that fire could be pointed pretty much anywhere. Some lower sections were built into the bedrock to prevent tunneling and Dual ramps provided quick access for horses and heavy munitions to supply the cannons. Covering one square mile, an internal curved passageway allowed movement from one side to the other, chimneys ventilated gunpowder smoke, and gunpowder barrels and cannon balls were stored. During the Ottoman siege, Venetians under the command of Hiernino Martinengo were despatched to help the city but he died on route, and his body was taken to Famagusta. A popular commander, the bastion was named after him. By any standard, the bastion is a formidable piece of construction with every stone corner, angle and tunnel crafted with smooth precision. It's easy to imagine the fire power it contained and see why it took Ottoman forces 10 months to conquer. The nearby churches of the Armenians and the Carmelites are also worth a visit.