The cathedral is known as one of the finest Gothic buildings in the Mediterranean world. Its foundation stone is known to have been laid in 1298 during the Lusignan rule and the construction lasted until 1312.
The cathedral of St. Nicholas in north Cyprus (unfortunately not in the Greek side - they turn it in to a horrible Turkish gami) is the largest medieval building in Famagusta and was commenced in 1300 AD. It must be noted that the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages often took more than 100 years to complete, so was St. Nicholas was completed about 1400. The Gothic style of architecture closely resembles closely the great cathedral of Rheims in Paris, France. The upper parts of the two towers suffered damage during the Ottoman bombardment of 1571 and when the Ottoman Turks captured the town from the Venetians, the cathedral was converted into a Mosque and a minaret was added.
