www.gonorthcyprus.co.uk Excavations have shown that the history of Salamis goes back to the 1 1[h century BC. Archaeologists tend to believe that the first inhabitants of the town came here from Enkomi after the earthquake of 1075 BC.Traces of a necropolis and a harbour of this early period have been located.

When the 'Dark Ages' of the Mediterranean world came to an end in about the 8th century BC, Salamis appeared on the historical scene as an important trading centre.

The necropolis which yielded the Royal Tombs belongs to this period and gives an idea about the richness of the city during the era. The first coins were minted in the 6th century BC. Also, in the inscriptions dating from this period the name of Salamis is encountered for the first time.

 In this century, together with Syria and Anatolia, the island went under the rule of the Achamenid Persian Empire which lasted until the march of Alexander the Great into Asia Minor.

 Following the unexpected death of Alexander the Great near Babylon in 323 BC, his generals divided the lands of the Hellenistic Empire and Cyprus fell to the share of Ptolemy who established his kingdom in Egypt. During the Hellenistic and the Roman era Salamis, together with Alexandria, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Ephesus, Pergamum and Athens, received its share of the wealth of the period and once again became an important trading centre between the worlds surrounding the Meditterranean.

This prosperous period continued into the Roman era. Most of the ruins unearthed in excavations date from this recent history of the city. The development of Salamis was often interrupted by earthquakes, especially in the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Following the earthquakes, the Byzantine emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD)rebuilt the city and renamed it Constantia. However, by this time the harbour was already silted up and more natural catastrophes and the raids of the Arab pirates brought its end. In 648 after another raid the last  inhabitants moved to Arsinoe which was later to become Famagusta.