Nicosia was founded in the 4th century by Lefkon, son of Ptolemeus I of
Egypt. When the Lusignans ruled over Cyprus the city was called Nicosie,
which was later changed by the British to Nicosia. In the 7th century AD
the coastal towns of Paphos and Salamis where threatened by invaders and
the population moved further inland. In this way Nicosia became the most
important city of the island. Between the 12th and the 16th century the
island flourished which resulted in the construction of splendid
castles, churches and monasteries. Also, the Venetian city wall dates
from 1567. During the conquering by the Ottoman troops, 20.000 people
were killed. In the 19th century the city met regularly with disaster :
an uprising that was oppressed by the Turks in 1821, a cholera epidemic
in 1835 an a ravaging fire in 1854. In the 20th century, the fiercest
fights during the Turkish invasion took place in Nicosia in 1974.
Barbed wire now divides modern Nicosia (Greek : Lefkosia, Turkish
Lefkosha) in a Greek and a Turkish sector. About 75% of the entire
population of the city lives in the Greek part. Nicosia is a modern,
dynamic city with a lot of shops, restaurants and places to go out at
night. Even though the city has been often rampaged by conquerors and
oppressors there are still a lot of monumental remainders of the past.
The most impressive monument
is the Venetian city wall, built between 1567 and 1570. The wall has an
outline of 4,5 km and it originally had three city gates. The Famagusta
gate is being used today as a cultural center. In some other parts of
the wall are services of the city administration. The old center lies
within the boundaries of the wall, but the modern Nicosia has grown
beyond its original limits.
The
heart of the city is the Eleftheria Square (or Freedom's square) where
the town hall, the post office and the library are situated. When
following Ledra street, one arrives in a vibrant old part of town with
plenty of streets, shops, cafés and stands with exotic food.
The
Ayia Phaneromeni church was built in 1872 with the stones of an old
castle and monastery. Here are the tombs of the archbishop and the
bishops who were killed by the Turks during the uprising of 1821. On the
Archiepiscopal Kyprianos Square stands the Palace of the
Archbishop. It
looks old, but it was built in 1956 as a beautiful imitation of the
typical Venetian style. Next to the palace is the Agios Ioannis
cathedral, built in 1665 on the spot where there used to be an old
Benedictine abbey. The cathedral has been built in late-gothic style and
has some beautiful wall-paintings.
There are several museums to be visited in Nicosia. The Byzantine Museum
with its splendid collection of icons is in a wing of the palace of the
archbishop. Other interesting museums in the center of town are : the
Folk Art Museum and the National Struggle Museum with pictures,
documents and weapons from the uprising against British rule in the
1950's. Southwest of the Paphos Gate is the Cyprus Museum, with its
treasure of archeological findings and works of art that come from the
entire history of the island (tombs, statues, votive statues, etc...). Finally,
south of the center the visitor can see craftsmen performing their
skills and manufacturing typical Cypriote artifacts in the Handicrafts Center.
