History of Armenians in Cyprus Cyprus, in possession of stores and shops in the ports of Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos, as well as in the capital Nicosia, thus controlling a large segment of commerce. Additionally, Armenian was one of the eleven official languages of the Kingdom of Cyprus and one of the five official languages of the Venetian colonial administration of Cyprus. According to chroniclers Leontios Makhairas (1369–1458), George Boustronios (1430–1501) and Florio Bustron (1500–1570), the Armenians of Nicosia had their own Prelature and used to live in their own quarter, called "Armenia" or "Armenoyitonia". They originally had three churches: "Sourp Kevork" ("Saint George"), "Sourp
Ancient history of Cyprus of Cyprus (known as "Iatnanna" by the Assyrians) appears to have begun earlier than this, during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (744–727 BC), and ended with the fall of the Neo Assyrian Empire in 609 BC, whereupon the city-kingdoms of Cyprus gained independence once more. Following a brief period of Egyptian domination in the sixth century BC, Cyprus fell under Persian rule. The Persians did not interfere in the internal affairs of Cyprus, leaving the city-kingdoms to continue striking their own coins and waging war amongst one another, until the late-fourth century BC saw the overthrow of the Persian Empire