CYPRUS: Workmen breaking ground for a new town hall stumbled across what are believed to be the 800-year-old remains of a medieval Lusignan palace in Cyprus whose exact whereabouts were a mystery for centuries.
The Lusignans were a French noble family which ruled Cyprus from 1192 to 1489. They built three palaces in Nicosia. Only small parts of the third and last palace still stand in Turkish-held northern Nicosia.
The first palace was completed in 1211 and destroyed about 1373 in clashes with Genoese forces for control of the city.