nicosia, cyprus

Nicosia (Lefkosia in Greek) is the capital and largest town on the island. The town is rich in its history and an ideal example of the surviving Gothic and Ottoman domestic and religious architecture of the medieval town. The Cyprus Museum in Nicosia is indisputably one of the best archeological collections in the Middle East.

Here you become acutely aware of the island’s division which separates the Republic of Southern Cyprus from the occupied Turkish north. Visit the Green Line, as the ceasefire line is known within the city limits, has existed since the Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus on the 19th July 1974; first as an impromptu barricades of bed-frames, upturned cars and other domestic debris, later more sturdily fashioned out of oil drums, barbed wire, sandbags and sheet metal. Today, the Green Line is denoted by stone walls protected by troops on both sides of the divide. On the southern side, tourists are reminded by authorities of the suffering suffered by Cypriots and the existence of the last divided city, following agreements reached in Berlin, Jerusalem and Beirut. Beyond the Green Line tourists can see the “dead zone” a 20 to 50 metre-wide stretch of derelict, rat and snake- infested houses and shops which remain untouched since 1974.

The new cosmopolitan Nicosia offers a sharp contrast to its troubled past, particularly witnessing the growth of an emerging European city since joining the EU in 2004. Plentiful designer shops, well-known stores and nightlife including discos, clubs and four medium=sized indoor theatres and numerous cinemas offer everything which a holidaymaker would want during their stay on the island.

No-mans land between the south and northern Cyprus