Original subtitles

[narrator] A Caribbean island, home to a once powerful industry

and of end up people divided.

They set fire to the one thing that the company really, really cares about.

[narrator] An isolated ghost town where dreams were made.

This was simply not something you would expect to see 11,000 feet up.

It demonstrates just how much wealth there that was here.

[narrator] And in the Mediterranean,

[narrator] And in the Mediterranean,

an ancient village caught in the crossfire.

Neighbor feared neighbor. The atmosphere had changed.

It had become dangerous.

[narrator] Decaying relics...

ruins of lost worlds...

sites haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting to be revealed.

High in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado,

tucked away in a steep-sided valley is a land of shattered dreams.

[Alicia] It's strikingly beautiful and on a sunny day it's even idyllic.

But you can't help but wonder what this place looks like in the winter.

But you can't help but wonder what this place looks like in the winter.

[Sascha] For anyone living out here, you have to be pretty resilient.

The weathers here are fierce.

Snowstorms, avalanches, freezing cold temperatures.

It's not the normal place you'd expect people to put buildings.

So there must have been a good reason for them to be there.

[narrator] From above it's clear that there was more to the site

than the structures still standing today.

As you come closer, you see the outlines of streets,

As you come closer, you see the outlines of streets,

you see the foundations of old buildings.

[Dougal] Clearly, lots of effort was put into some of these.

You've got some sort of quite ornate wooden structures, some really quite nice buildings.

[Alicia] And others have seen better days.

They look, as if they've been destroyed by some other outside factor.

[narrator] What promise of riches first lured settlers to this inhospitable land?

[narrator] What promise of riches first lured settlers to this inhospitable land?

There must have been something that we can't see, something hidden from view.

[narrator] And what unforeseen disaster would begin its premature demise?

David Singer is a preservation expert and helps to look after what's left of the site today.

[David] So, this building is a jail.

It was built in 1882.

This was law and order on the frontier.

Buildings made of wood. But the planks are laid flat.

So, the walls are all six inches thick.

People would try and break out of the jail, of course.

But people would try and break into the jail

if they wanted to have their own kind of vigilante justice.

[narrator] In the mid-19th century,

the United States was a land gripped by wild optimism and savage greed.

This place was a part of that story.

This place was a part of that story.

Once the federal government opened up this land to western settlements,

it opened the floodgates.

Suddenly Americans were coming in from the East Coast

and immigrants were coming from other countries to seize

whatever opportunity this land had for them.

[narrator] Untamed frontiers like this

were where fortune seekers chased the elusive American Dream.

[Sascha] It's impossible to overestimate how inhospitable an area this is.

[Sascha] It's impossible to overestimate how inhospitable an area this is.

In 1884,

a 23-day blizzard dumped 25 feet of snow on the region.

People had to dig tunnels just to get from building to building.

[narrator] But what these people wanted was worth the terrible hardship.

[Dougal] The San Juan Mountains form part of the Colorado Mineral Belt.

And this is an area that's famous for hard rock ores

And this is an area that's famous for hard rock ores

caused by mineralization associated with volcanic activity.

And what you find is that this volcanic activity caused veins of gold, silver, lead,

copper rich material to be intruded into the rocks around them.

But it's actually very, very hard to get this material out

because it's in the solid geology.

[Sascha] As early as 1873,

some groups had started to explore the Animas River

and gold and silver deposits were discovered pretty early on.

and gold and silver deposits were discovered pretty early on.

Log cabins started to sprout up, scattered all around the place.

And within a year or so,

the Animas River area had become a central focus of hard rock, silver and gold mining.

[narrator] This is Animas Forks,

a remote mining boom town built on the promise of precious metals.

This would have been the main street area.

This would have been the main street area.

There were two streets, Little Street and Hanson.

This area would have been bustling

with miners going to work in the mills and the mines,

carts full of equipment and materials, kids playing, children going off to school.

[narrator] Perched at around 11,000 feet,

this was one of the highest altitude mining towns in the country.

[Alicia] Animas Forks became a substantial town over time

[Alicia] Animas Forks became a substantial town over time

but it really began to see some of its biggest developments

after the sawmill and lumber mill were created.

[narrator] Within three years there were 30 cabins, a general store,

several saloons, a pharmacy, and a post office.

[Alicia] Even had the Kalamazoo Hotel,

which was the grandest and largest building in the area.

It also had the town's only telephone, and this beautiful grand piano.

It also had the town's only telephone, and this beautiful grand piano.

Animas Forks was a bustling metropolis.

[narrator] At its height, 400 people called this home.

For one family drawn here, theirs was a story

that captured the reality of what towns like this were really all about.

[David] When the Duncans moved here in the late 1870s,

they were considering this to be a place that was going to grow and develop,

they were considering this to be a place that was going to grow and develop,

and become a full-fledged town.

And so, they built a home that was commensurate with modern living in the Victorian era.

The amazing views out into the mountains from this bay window

were unrivaled for this kind of living,

having a bit of culture while you were kind of on the frontier as a pioneer.

[Sascha] This was simply not something you would expect to see

11,000 feet up the side of a steep mountain.

And it demonstrates just how much wealth there was to be made here.

[narrator] Pride comes before a fall.

And soon, the Duncans and other townspeople would learn that lesson the hard way.

The town had hit its height and it was rapidly going into decline.

[narrator] In the rugged mountains of Colorado is a gold mining ghost town.

Its rapid rise made the inhabitants rich, until catastrophe intervened.

The town's boom period came to a sudden end on October 22nd, 1891.

A huge fire burned down most of the business district,

A huge fire burned down most of the business district,

causing over $20,000 in damage.

[Alicia] The fire actually originated in the Kalamazoo House kitchen

and then it ultimately ended up spreading throughout the rest of the town.

And to add insult to injury, mining had already begun to taper.

And so, with these two things together,

this was a really crucial moment for the people of Animas Forks.

[narrator] Only five years after they arrived, the Duncans departed Animas Forks.

[narrator] Only five years after they arrived, the Duncans departed Animas Forks.

Their dream of striking it rich in tatters.

But not everyone packed their belongings in such a hurry.

[David] The town kind of lay fallow for a while

until it was revived again sometime after 1904

when the Gold Prince Mill was being constructed.

This is a gravity-fed mill.

And so, that's why you're seeing the foundation of this large building tiered

And so, that's why you're seeing the foundation of this large building tiered

as they did things to the ore to process it.

At its peak, it had a 500-ton-per-day capacity

and it was fed ore by this incredibly impressive

12,600-foot aerial tramway.

[Dougal] Things were going swimmingly

and looked like things were improving a lot in this area

until unfortunately the owners of the Gold Prince Mill went bankrupt in 1907.

until unfortunately the owners of the Gold Prince Mill went bankrupt in 1907.

[narrator] When it was no longer profitable to extract the mineral-bearing ore,

the town's days were sadly numbered.

[David] After the Gold Prince Mill closed down in 1910,

people moved on

and there were some sporadic repopulation here

in the '20s and then the '60s.

But the town was never occupied again.

[narrator] For centuries, the lure of gold has driven humankind mad with lust.

A hard life of feast or famine that shaped not only the landscape

but the world we live in today.

[Sascha] It might seem that the story of Animas Forks is just another story

of a boomtown gone bust.

And sure, in many ways it is.

But it's also a story of lives made, lives lost in the process.

And we shouldn't forget that part of it.

And we shouldn't forget that part of it.

[narrator] Off the southern coast of England,

in The Solent is an isolated structure.

[Lynette] The first time I ever saw this,

I was sailing out of Portsmouth through The Solent.

And there, up ahead of us, looked like it was an island.

And we got closer, and can't be an island, it's... it's too round.

[Dougal] At face value, it looks like something from Mad Max meets Waterworld.

What's it doing there?

[narrator] Its state of decay suggests this is no modern construction.

[Sascha] This is really falling to pieces.

[Sascha] This is really falling to pieces.

The concrete is crumbling, all the metal is corroded.

This has clearly been through some really tough years.

[narrator] Inside is a labyrinth of dark passages.

[Dougal] And as you explore further,

you can see that there's a whole series of interconnecting corridors,

some of which are so tight you have to squeeze past.

It's a real claustrophobic environment.

[narrator] Are the unobstructed views of the ocean

[narrator] Are the unobstructed views of the ocean

key to understanding the structure's purpose?

[Sascha] That rather unique circular design

is a really crucial clue as to what was going on here.

Another important fact

to consider is that there are other emplacements just like it.

[Dougal] There's been a lot of thought

put into this very tightly knit, very strong structure.

What was it for?

[narrator] For centuries, in times of war,

the United Kingdom has taken advantage of its position as an island nation.

This hulking mass of concrete

was a vital part of the strategy to ward off foreign invaders.

[Dougal] There are a number of things that are built on top of it

that are clearly from World War II.

There are outposts, there's place to put guns.

I mean it's very reminiscent of many of the structures

that we see along this coastal part of the UK.

that we see along this coastal part of the UK.

[narrator] Dom Hones lives nearby on the mainland,

and is an expert on this unique slice of history.

[Dom] We're downstairs in the cartridge cellar,

which is the lower basement floor at the fort.

And quite simply down here was where all of the ammunitions was initially stored

before it was taken up to the higher levels to the gun emplacements to be used.

[narrator] Clearly this was designed for war.

But its qualities don't appear suited to the incredible firepower of the Nazis.

This was not something that could withstand the type of warfare

that was waged in World War II.

I mean, you could either just bomb it from the air,

or you could hit it with heavy shells from a warship.

[Dougal] But these structures from World War II,

are these built on something that pre-existed?

are these built on something that pre-existed?

And is that the key to what this place used to be used for?

[narrator] If not intended to defend against German attack,

what enemy threatened England's shores?

[narrator] In the English Channel is an isolated defensive structure.

Surviving elements hint it played a role in World War II,

and yet it appears to date to a much earlier period.

This is clearly more than 100 years old.

This is 150 years old.

[narrator] A century before Hitler's forces terrorized Europe,

[narrator] A century before Hitler's forces terrorized Europe,

fear of invasion came from much closer to home.

In the old days England's ancient enemy was France.

And of the continental powers, France is the closest one.

It's only a few miles across the English Channel from Britain.

[narrator] Construction here began in 1861,

a time of heightened tension

led by an ambitious French family dynasty with a score to settle.

led by an ambitious French family dynasty with a score to settle.

[Sascha] France's new leader was Napoleon Bonaparte III,

the nephew of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte

who had fought an epic battle against Britain

before finally facing defeat at Trafalgar and Waterloo.

You can imagine

why his descendant might hold just a little bit of a grudge against the British.

[Dougal] The prime minister at the time,

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, was a very popular man.

And he decreed that it would be useful to set up a series of defenses

against any potential attack from the sea.

[narrator] There was good reason to think an attack was imminent.

The French were embarking on an aggressive shipbuilding program,

technologically advanced and unparalleled in its might.

[Dom] The French military was developed,

so that they had, you know, ironclad warships including La Gloire.

so that they had, you know, ironclad warships including La Gloire.

[narrator] Britain had yet to develop an equivalent armored warship.

Its aging wooden fleet didn't stand a chance.

The La Gloire was a major threat to Britain.

Palmerston knew that the French ironclad could sail

right up a Royal Navy fleet

and that the cannons of those ships could do very little to dent the ironclad hull.

and that the cannons of those ships could do very little to dent the ironclad hull.

Britain was put on the backfoot almost overnight.

The ironclad was a kind of undefeatable super weapon.

[narrator] In response, Palmerston ordered a royal commission

to assess the United Kingdom's ability to repel foreign invaders.

Its findings spread panic.

If you can't get the Royal Navy to suddenly convert to ironclads,

If you can't get the Royal Navy to suddenly convert to ironclads,

you've got to defend the Royal Navy's ports with something else.

You've got to defend them using armored fortresses instead.

[narrator] This is Horse Sand Fort,

one of a chain of four sea-based defenses

intended to protect the key naval position of Portsmouth from French attack.

In today's money, each stronghold cost around $60 million.

And they were part of a far larger nationwide plan

And they were part of a far larger nationwide plan

that would come to define Palmerston's reign.

[Dougal] It's difficult to build at sea at the best of time.

You imagine how hard it must have been in the 1860s.

And what they would do is they would sail these pre-formed concrete blocks

out to the site and drop them to form the foundations on the sea floor

and build up from there.

And, eventually, you can build up out of the sea

and build the structure of these fortresses.

[narrator] Above the foundation

was a basement level divided radially into compartments for ammunition,

was a basement level divided radially into compartments for ammunition,

with the outermost passage designed to allow additional armor

to be bolted onto the exterior of the fort.

When finished in 1880 there was enough firepower stored inside

to sink any approaching fleet.

So, here we have one of the gun emplacements.

There would have been 49 in total, 25 on one level, 24 on the other.

There would have been 49 in total, 25 on one level, 24 on the other.

And this is where the main gun emplacements were and the main firepower for the force.

Originally been up to 12.5-inch rifle muzzle-loading guns,

huge, huge 38-ton guns.

[narrator] On the fort's upper levels,

the troops kept a round-the-clock watch for any approaching enemy.

The way that these forts were designed

was that they created a line of defense across the entire Solent

was that they created a line of defense across the entire Solent

that the French navy would have to pass through in order to get to the shore.

Had they attempted to get through,

they would had to come through between Horse Sand Fort

and No Man's Ford and they would have been obliterated from all angles.

And every area, stretch of water in between would have been covered.

[narrator] Were the English ready for the French attack?

And would the costly fort stand up to the challenge?

[narrator] In the English Channel is an aging fort

designed to protect against a French navy readying for war.

The soldiers stationed on board kept a constant watch.

So when the alarm sounded, which could have been any time of day or night,

the soldiers had to, you know, stop whatever they were doing and take the call to arms.

[narrator] But that call to arms never came.

[Sascha] In the early 20th century,

the dynamics of Britain's relationship

to its continental allies shifted dramatically.

The unification of Germany really changed the equation on the continent.

[Lynette] Lord Palmerston gears up for a French attack that never comes.

The crisis in relations with the French passes.

The crisis in relations with the French passes.

And in fact, the French and the British come together in the middle of the 19th century

and are as close allies

as two nations can be for decades.

[narrator] For the man that ordered the fort's construction,

the defenses became a damning part of his legacy.

[Sascha] The official title is The Solent Forts.

But while they were built, they were given a different name by a derisive press.

But while they were built, they were given a different name by a derisive press.

They were called Palmerston's Follies.

[narrator] Across the south coast, over 80 forts were commissioned.

To this day, it was the single most expensive military project

Britain has undertaken during peacetime.

[Lynette] With hindsight,

you might say that Lord Palmerston was foolish

to build all of those fortresses with a massive investment of national wealth,

to build all of those fortresses with a massive investment of national wealth,

but only with hindsight.

[narrator] Even after the fort was repurposed

for use in the First and then Second World War, the guns stayed silent.

[Don] There has never been a shot fired in anger from Horse Sand.

The closest they got to it was during World War II

when one of the French warships sought refuge in Portsmouth.

And that's the only time the cannons and the forts were targeted on that ship

And that's the only time the cannons and the forts were targeted on that ship

just to ensure its safe passage into the harbor.

[narrator] A decade after the world's deadliest conflict ended,

the fort was decommissioned.

To this day, it has sat empty, an ocean albatross motivated by fear.

On the island of Puerto Rico,

near the southern shore, are the remnants of a fallen giant.

[Jim] As you approach from the water, you see what looks like a Caribbean paradise.

But as you get closer,

you see the vast ruins of some kind of big industrial enterprise.

[Claire] There's conveyor belts and chutes, and chimneys.

There's a massive pier heading out into the water.

Obviously, we're taking something away.

There's some transportation involved.

But what was it for?

[narrator] Surrounding the industrial zone are clues

this area was even bigger than it first appears.

[Claire] There's also signs that there's a typical town here.

There's all sorts of little buildings, different shapes and sizes,

There's all sorts of little buildings, different shapes and sizes,

some very domestic, some clearly for the community.

[Jim] You see what looks like it might have been a hotel.

Everything built for those tropical conditions with large verandas,

lots of big windows for the breezes to blow through.

[narrator] But the layout of this town suggests not all was as it seemed.

Whatever this place was, you can see that it obviously housed a lot of people.

Whatever this place was, you can see that it obviously housed a lot of people.

But there appears to be something off with it.

You can spot that there's two very, very different standards of living.

[narrator] The rusting structures that cling to the landscape today

were once the beating heart of this island.

Wilfredo Santiago lives nearby and is fascinated by the run-down site's past.

Wilfredo Santiago lives nearby and is fascinated by the run-down site's past.

[Wilfredo] So, at its height,

this facility was basically creating tons of this product that was in super high demand.

Basically, sustained the economy of the country for almost 100 years.

So, right now we're standing at the central office.

It was basically filled with desks, a lot of processors, a lot of paperwork.

It was the central hub of information.

Every process went through here.

So, most of the workforce here in the central office were Americans.

So, most of the workforce here in the central office were Americans.

They were the figures of power.

[narrator] For four centuries, Puerto Rico had been a Spanish colony.

As the 1800s drew to a close,

a new superpower emerged that would change the course of the island's history.

[Jim] In 1898, a very short but intense war

started between Spain and the United States.

Within a year, Spain had decided there was no way they could win this war

Within a year, Spain had decided there was no way they could win this war

and they actually granted the island of Puerto Rico to the United States.

A lot of Americans saw Puerto Rico as a wonderful opportunity for investment.

[Claire] So, Ford and Co., that's not the car people, a different Ford,

acquired the land here,

and with it they decided to invest a huge amount of money

in order to make an even bigger amount of money.

[Alicia] Everything was centered around

[Alicia] Everything was centered around

and everything came to be because of one commodity, sugar.

[narrator] These are the ruins of Central Aguirre,

a company town built on sweet white gold.

[Wilfredo] The employees worked sun to sun, what they called it sol a sol.

It was basically 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And a lot of people, there was no transportation.

So, if you live pretty far away from the area,

you have to walk one hour, two hours to get here.

you have to walk one hour, two hours to get here.

So, you were losing almost all your life working for a misery.

[narrator] Profit was key,

and the surrounding neighborhood grew to support the booming industry.

[Claire] You can't run a place like this just on the factory.

You need all the extra supporting stuff.

You need a town, hospitals, schools, places to worship.

It had the lot absolutely tied to the factory at its heart.

[Alicia] By establishing these communities around the factories,

[Alicia] By establishing these communities around the factories,

factory owners were helping to ensure a consistent and stable labor force.

[Jim] So, in the early 20th century,

the Aguirre plantation became the focus of a lot of very modern industrialization.

They realized if they could get the cane from the fields to the plant,

crushed and processed, and loaded onto ships with the fewest human hands possible,

crushed and processed, and loaded onto ships with the fewest human hands possible,

that would be the most cost-effective way to run the whole operation.

[narrator] By 1920, production increased to record levels,

generating over $5 million per year.

The population swelled to almost 6,000,

mostly employees of Central Aguirre.

But for the workers, a dark side would soon be revealed,

unleashing a violent wave of protest.

unleashing a violent wave of protest.

They set fire to the one thing that the company really, really cares about

in order to get people to pay attention.

[narrator] In Puerto Rico are the remains of a huge industrial sugar mill

surrounded by the company town that supported it.

It offered the hope of prosperity to local workers.

But underlying intolerance threatened to destroy it.

In theory, providing this community for workers is utopian.

But if we actually look at the site,

But if we actually look at the site,

we see that there is segregation that runs rampant in this facility.

[Jim] Where the American overseers lived in these lovely houses,

they socialized strictly among themselves and they had the best of everything.

The people from Puerto Rico who live there lived in very modest housing.

[narrator] The accommodation was of such poor construction,

little of it survives to be seen today.

little of it survives to be seen today.

[Claire] So, here it's not just about civil planning,

making life beautiful for everybody.

There's a hierarchy and there's apartheid.

You've got one area that's for the Americans

and you've got the other area that's for the locals.

[narrator] The divide didn't stop at the housing.

At the American hotel, the deep-seated prejudice becomes painfully clear.

[Wilfredo] We got to a point that if a Puerto Rican snuck

[Wilfredo] We got to a point that if a Puerto Rican snuck

in or walked in and got into the pool,

they would completely dry it out and clean it so they can refill it.

They basically had this idea that we Puerto Ricans were dirty,

we're unhygienic, and we were filthy.

[narrator] For over three decades,

the sugar mill thrived and profits soared

at the expense of the workers segregated on their own island.

In time the employees would fight back against the poor wages and mistreatment.

[Claire] Beginning on the 26th of December 1934,

a wave of strikes sets off across Puerto Rico.

And this has huge implications for sugar processing industry.

[Alicia] You have a number of workers

who destroyed about 2,900 cords of sugarcane

at an enormous loss to the factory and the factory owners.

This was particularly catastrophic,

This was particularly catastrophic,

but it was effective in that they were able to negotiate some better terms.

[Claire] Over the next decade,

it's a constant battle to improve worker's rights and conditions,

balanced up against the new machinery that's being brought in.

[Wilfredo] It was not until they started to unionize and, you know,

fight for the right for more money and more equal pay

that when they started getting a little bit more stable in the whole community.

[narrator] But the hard-fought rights didn't last for long.

[narrator] But the hard-fought rights didn't last for long.

Despite continual efforts to modernize production,

the sugar industry here was entering a terminal decline.

[Jim] By the mid-'60s, the boom was ending.

The end of the road was becoming visible.

The price of sugar was collapsing.

[Claire] The American owners effectively abandoned the town

and it's taken on by this local and national government.

But by 1993, the writing was on the wall.

But by 1993, the writing was on the wall.

This was not a profit-making town anymore.

And the factory closed, and with it the town just fell apart.

[narrator] Today, the abandoned company town is no more

than a ghost of Puerto Rico's colonial past.

[Jim] It's fascinating to see the remnants of what was once this thriving industry,

and also to understand the degree of exploitation that was involved in this business.

and also to understand the degree of exploitation that was involved in this business.

[narrator] On the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

is a crumbling ruin.

Its walls tainted by tragedy.

[Lynette] Among some pretty hills is a stone village.

[Lynette] Among some pretty hills is a stone village.

This is not fancy,

but it is absolutely clear from the way this has survived

that the people who built this place built well.

They built to last.

Some stone stairways are still visible

and windows and doors give an idea of what the place used to look like.

[Geoff] The odd assemblage of buildings

that they could date from almost any era.

Some look quite old, some look less old.

Some look quite old, some look less old.

[Dominic] The sense you get from all of this is that this is a place

that's been inhabited down the ages and potentially by different cultures.

[Geoff] And yet the people are all gone

and this whole area would have been cultivated, and, yet, now it's empty.

[narrator] What story of sorrow weighs heavy on this land?

And why is this village now abandoned?

[Dominic] There was an underlying divide in the country,

which had been bubbling away for decades,

which had been bubbling away for decades,

came to the surface in the most violent and shocking way.

[narrator] On the island of Cyprus is the ruin of an ancient stone village.

For many locals in this area,

traditional Christian belief lies at the heart of their community.

Christodoulos Papaminas is a farmer in the neighboring village.

He remembers fondly the simple way of life that existed here.

[speaking other language]

[speaking other language]

[translator] It was a village of livestock farmers.

People spent most of their time in the fields.

That was their life.

[narrator] In time, events on the island would tear this village apart.

A single building holds the key to its sudden abandonment.

[speaking other language]

[translator] This used to be the mosque for the Turkish Cypriots.

They used to come here to attend their formal worship.

They used to come here to attend their formal worship.

If we've got a mosque here in the village,

this is a sign that this might have been not a Greek Orthodox village

but a Turkish Muslim village.

And in the history of Cyprus, in the recent history of Cyprus, that's significant.

Cyprus has for many years been a country made up of two groups,

the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.

the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriots are predominantly Christian orthodox,

whereas the Turkish Cypriots are predominantly Muslim.

For many, many years they lived happily side by side.

[narrator] This is Foinikas, a once harmonious Mediterranean village.

In living memory, it was home to 235 people.

Yet, in the past, life here was not always peaceful.

[Geoff] Cyprus enjoys a really strategic location.

[Geoff] Cyprus enjoys a really strategic location.

And because of its key position in the Mediterranean

and because of its relatively flourishing economy and its good natural harbors,

Cyprus was battled over by the powers for centuries,

the Greeks, the Romans, the Phoenicians, the Turks.

[narrator] The run-down walls are evidence of one of the earliest occupying forces.

In the 12th century, the Knights Templar called this place home.

In the 12th century, the Knights Templar called this place home.

They built the village from stones from the nearby vertical rock faces.

[narrator] During the violent era of the Crusades,

the Knights Templar protected European Christian travelers

visiting sites in the Muslim-held holy land.

The Templars want to control Cyprus

because it will enable them to strengthen

their control of Middle Eastern trade routes.

their control of Middle Eastern trade routes.

So, the Knights Templar build what they call a commandery,

that is a command post here in this village.

[narrator] It may have been founded at a time of religious warring,

but over the centuries the people learned to live together.

Through the years of coming to trade with fellow cattlemen,

Christodoulos made many friends.

[speaking other language]

[speaking other language]

[translator] One close friend I had was called Somalios, and his father, Mustafa.

We had good relationships with the rest of the cattlers and the farmers in the village.

We used to meet them often in a little coffee place off the village.

The daily activities and the life in the village was pretty much the same every day.

[narrator] But trouble was brewing.

The religious divide,

central to the holy wars of the Crusades, would resurface hundreds of years later.

central to the holy wars of the Crusades, would resurface hundreds of years later.

So, this growing tension between the Greek Christians and the Turkish Muslims

explodes into open warfare in 1974,

when the Greek government led by a military junta decides,

you know, "We're going to annex the island of Cyprus

because it's largely Greek, it belongs to Greece."

[speaking other language]

[translator] We were surprised to hear about the coup that morning.

We didn't know about it before it happened.

All hell broke loose.

All hell broke loose.

[Lynette] Turkey's response to the Greek Cypriot nationalist coup d'etat

is to seek to protect

the Turks of Cyprus by invading Cyprus.

[narrator] The island instantly descended into violent chaos.

In the fog of war,

both sides were guilty of committing unforgivable atrocities.

[Dominic] Now, neighbor feared neighbor.

[Dominic] Now, neighbor feared neighbor.

The atmosphere had changed. It had become dangerous.

What once had been a peaceful landscape of coexistence had been shattered.

It's such a waste.

[narrator] For 30 days,

bitter fighting raged until finally a ceasefire was agreed and the country divided up.

And as a condition of the ceasefire, there were massive population transfers.

Tens of thousands of Greek Christians migrated from the now Turkish zone

Tens of thousands of Greek Christians migrated from the now Turkish zone

in the north of the island to the now Greek zone in the south of the island.

And the same thing happened on the other side.

[narrator] This village on the south of the island was now part of Greek-held territory.

The civilians of Foinikas were caught in the middle of the chaos

and had to decide what to do.

It had been a Turkish village for years,

but now they were being told that they're on the wrong side of the border.

[narrator] Fearing reprisals, the Muslim occupants fled.

Christodoulos remembers only too well the trauma of this terrible period.

Christodoulos remembers only too well the trauma of this terrible period.

[speaking other language]

[translator] It's a great sorrow for all these people

and the loss they had to go through.

No one can ever forget about that.

You just become sad only by thinking about it.

I don't believe that anyone will come here ever again.

How can anyone be able to live here anymore?

[narrator] Over four decades have passed

since the shocking events that transformed this Mediterranean island.

Yet, Cyprus is still a country divided.

The Turks of Northern Cyprus are convinced

that if they let their guard down for even a moment,

the Greeks will take over.

The Greeks of Cyprus are convinced

that if they let their guard down for even a moment, the Turks will take over.

that if they let their guard down for even a moment, the Turks will take over.

And the partition of Cyprus

remains part of the daily life of that island to this day.