Places to visit in Cyprus
The ramparts hurriedly built by the Venetians from 1567 to 1570 to fend off the Turks remain Nicosia's dominant feature. Indeed, with its 11 pointed bastions and three giant gateways, the wheel shaped Renaissance fortifica¬tion, some 5 km (nearly 3 miles) in length, has become the modern capital's distinc¬tive logo, a symbol of its historic unity.
The gates bear the names of the three coastal cities to which they led: Famagusta to the east, Kyrenia to the north and Paphos to the west (the two latter gates in the town's Turkish-Cypriot sector).
Originally the main en¬trance to the old city, the mas¬sive Famagusta Gate is a tunnel like building all to it¬self. Handsomely restored as Greek Cypriot Nicosia's Cul¬tural Centre, the stone barrel vaults provide a splendid setting for concerts, plays and exhibitions of modem art. During the city's annual sum Korrekt Spelling Cypriot signmakers very kindly transliterate names from the Greek, but with glorious inconsistency. Sometimes you will see Pafos, more often Paphos, saints are variously pre¬sented as Ayios or Agios.
We have tried to impose some order on our spelling, but where we fail, we are at least capturing the true spirit of the place -our main objective is a mere arts festival, an open-air theatre is installed in the adja¬cent moat. Some bastions shelter muni¬cipal offices, while sections of the moat (not completed in time to keep out the Turks) now serve as public gardens, playgrounds and car parks.
The Greek Quarter of Cyprus
Today, most visitors to the old city enter through Eleftheria (Liberty) Square, where you will find the Municipal Li¬brary, the Central Post Office and the Town Hall this last a fanciful colonnaded structure of 1930, renovated in 1952. From the square, Ledra Street leads through the thriving old part of town, thronged with shoppers looking for popularly priced goods. Explore the crowded alleyways and tiny streets lined with shops, cafes and food stands (which exude exotic odours), especially late in the day when the air is cooler.
The new Leventis Municipal Museum, 17 Hippocrates ') Street, presents a beautifully Augustinian monastery. designed account of Nicosia's history (winning the European Museum of the Year award in 1991).
In a fine 19th-century Neoclassical mansion, it traces the city's long story in reverse, from today's capital of the Republic back to British colonial days, to rule by the Turks, the Venetians, the Lusignans, its Byzantine era and ancient Greek ongms. Exhibits include costumes, utensils, coins and ancient ceramics, but also a rare por¬trait of Caterina Cornaro and a King George VI Coronation tea mug. Immediately to the south, the revived Laiki Yitonia (Popular Neighbourhood) re¬creates the atmosphere of old Nicosia.
Buildings in tradi¬tional style some restored, others specially constructed ¬house quaint boutiques, taver¬nas, flats and artisans' gal¬leries (you can watch the craftsmen while they work), as well as an office of the Cyprus Tourism Organization.
Make your way east to¬wards the minaret landmark of Omerye Mosque, trans¬formed by the town's 16th¬century Turkish conquerors from the Augustinian monas¬tery church of St Mary's. Still used by the few hundred Moslem worshippers living in the Greek-Cypriot sector (mostly Arab students), it is also open to visitors wishing to climb the minaret's spiral stairway. It affords a great view across to the northern sector and beyond to the Kyrenia Mountains.
At 18 Patriarch Gregorios Street, the house of Hadji¬geogakis Kornessios, Konak Mansion, is a beautiful 18th century structure with Gothic¬style doorway and overhang¬ing, closed balcony. Restored to some of its original glory, the interior is notable for the ornate stairway and the grand reception room's painted ceil¬ing and opulent furnishings. They testify to the wealth ac¬cumulated by this gobetween for the Turkish sultan and Cypriot archbishop.
The Archbishop´s Palace Cyprus
The Archbishop's Palace stands at the centre of much of the old city's cultural life. The palace itself (residence closed to visitors) is a fanciful mod¬ern pastiche of Venetian archi¬tecture. Amid the splendour of the state rooms, Archbishop Makarios III installed an aus¬tere bedroom with simple chest and iron bed, a humble resting place for the heart of the revered national leader. Housed in a public wing of the palace, the Byzantine Mu¬seum has rescued and restored a superb collection of icons from all over the island. Pre¬sented with loving care and at¬tention to lighting, they offer the full range of Byzantine art on Cyprus from a primitive 9thcentury Virgin Mary to the decline in the 18th century.
Highlights from the golden era of Cypriot art in the 12th cen¬tury are a luminous Christ giv¬ing his blessing and a solemn Virgin and Child, both from Lagoudhera in the Troodos mountains.
Upstairs is a large collec¬tion of European paintings from the 16th to the 19th cen turies. Attributions to the mas¬ters are doubtful, but it is worth testing the national Cypriot pulse with a look at local themes noble Greek peasants and indolent Turkish pashas. Pride of place goes to Massacre at Chios, attributed variously to Delacroix or Courbet, both fervent champi¬ons of the Greek cause against the Turks. Next to the museum, Ayios Ioannis (St John's) is Nicosia's Orthodox cathedral, built in 1665 in an approxima¬tion of Late Gothic style.
The 18th century frescoes depict landmarks in the island's early Christian history from the mis-sion of Paul and Barnabas in AD 45 to the bestowal of im¬perial privileges on the Arch¬bishop of Cyprus in 488. The adjacent Gothic arcaded monastery building is now the Folk Art Museum, dis¬playing wooden water wheels, looms, pottery, carved and painted bridal chests, lace and embroidered costumes. Opposite the nearby Pan¬cyprian Gymnasium, a high school famous for its enosis activism in the 1950s, the National Struggle Museum documents the EOKA armed uprising against British rule in the 1950s.
Revolutionary ardour is dimly recaptured by a collection of guns, hand grenades, bayonets, old news¬papers and the command car of EOKA leader Griva Dighenis, a small burgundy-¬red Hillman. The Newtown Cyprus and car hireCyprus car hire can be booked and picked up directly from Larnaca or Paphos Airport. Outside the old walls, Nicosia's smarter shops and restaurants are to be found along Evagoras and Arch¬bishop Makarios avenues, south of Elefthera Square. A modern handicrafts centre lies south of the town centre on Athalassa Avenue.
The gates bear the names of the three coastal cities to which they led: Famagusta to the east, Kyrenia to the north and Paphos to the west (the two latter gates in the town's Turkish-Cypriot sector).
Originally the main en¬trance to the old city, the mas¬sive Famagusta Gate is a tunnel like building all to it¬self. Handsomely restored as Greek Cypriot Nicosia's Cul¬tural Centre, the stone barrel vaults provide a splendid setting for concerts, plays and exhibitions of modem art. During the city's annual sum Korrekt Spelling Cypriot signmakers very kindly transliterate names from the Greek, but with glorious inconsistency. Sometimes you will see Pafos, more often Paphos, saints are variously pre¬sented as Ayios or Agios.
We have tried to impose some order on our spelling, but where we fail, we are at least capturing the true spirit of the place -our main objective is a mere arts festival, an open-air theatre is installed in the adja¬cent moat. Some bastions shelter muni¬cipal offices, while sections of the moat (not completed in time to keep out the Turks) now serve as public gardens, playgrounds and car parks.
The Greek Quarter of Cyprus
Today, most visitors to the old city enter through Eleftheria (Liberty) Square, where you will find the Municipal Li¬brary, the Central Post Office and the Town Hall this last a fanciful colonnaded structure of 1930, renovated in 1952. From the square, Ledra Street leads through the thriving old part of town, thronged with shoppers looking for popularly priced goods. Explore the crowded alleyways and tiny streets lined with shops, cafes and food stands (which exude exotic odours), especially late in the day when the air is cooler.
The new Leventis Municipal Museum, 17 Hippocrates ') Street, presents a beautifully Augustinian monastery. designed account of Nicosia's history (winning the European Museum of the Year award in 1991).
In a fine 19th-century Neoclassical mansion, it traces the city's long story in reverse, from today's capital of the Republic back to British colonial days, to rule by the Turks, the Venetians, the Lusignans, its Byzantine era and ancient Greek ongms. Exhibits include costumes, utensils, coins and ancient ceramics, but also a rare por¬trait of Caterina Cornaro and a King George VI Coronation tea mug. Immediately to the south, the revived Laiki Yitonia (Popular Neighbourhood) re¬creates the atmosphere of old Nicosia.
Buildings in tradi¬tional style some restored, others specially constructed ¬house quaint boutiques, taver¬nas, flats and artisans' gal¬leries (you can watch the craftsmen while they work), as well as an office of the Cyprus Tourism Organization.
Make your way east to¬wards the minaret landmark of Omerye Mosque, trans¬formed by the town's 16th¬century Turkish conquerors from the Augustinian monas¬tery church of St Mary's. Still used by the few hundred Moslem worshippers living in the Greek-Cypriot sector (mostly Arab students), it is also open to visitors wishing to climb the minaret's spiral stairway. It affords a great view across to the northern sector and beyond to the Kyrenia Mountains.
At 18 Patriarch Gregorios Street, the house of Hadji¬geogakis Kornessios, Konak Mansion, is a beautiful 18th century structure with Gothic¬style doorway and overhang¬ing, closed balcony. Restored to some of its original glory, the interior is notable for the ornate stairway and the grand reception room's painted ceil¬ing and opulent furnishings. They testify to the wealth ac¬cumulated by this gobetween for the Turkish sultan and Cypriot archbishop.
The Archbishop´s Palace Cyprus
The Archbishop's Palace stands at the centre of much of the old city's cultural life. The palace itself (residence closed to visitors) is a fanciful mod¬ern pastiche of Venetian archi¬tecture. Amid the splendour of the state rooms, Archbishop Makarios III installed an aus¬tere bedroom with simple chest and iron bed, a humble resting place for the heart of the revered national leader. Housed in a public wing of the palace, the Byzantine Mu¬seum has rescued and restored a superb collection of icons from all over the island. Pre¬sented with loving care and at¬tention to lighting, they offer the full range of Byzantine art on Cyprus from a primitive 9thcentury Virgin Mary to the decline in the 18th century.
Highlights from the golden era of Cypriot art in the 12th cen¬tury are a luminous Christ giv¬ing his blessing and a solemn Virgin and Child, both from Lagoudhera in the Troodos mountains.
Upstairs is a large collec¬tion of European paintings from the 16th to the 19th cen turies. Attributions to the mas¬ters are doubtful, but it is worth testing the national Cypriot pulse with a look at local themes noble Greek peasants and indolent Turkish pashas. Pride of place goes to Massacre at Chios, attributed variously to Delacroix or Courbet, both fervent champi¬ons of the Greek cause against the Turks. Next to the museum, Ayios Ioannis (St John's) is Nicosia's Orthodox cathedral, built in 1665 in an approxima¬tion of Late Gothic style.
The 18th century frescoes depict landmarks in the island's early Christian history from the mis-sion of Paul and Barnabas in AD 45 to the bestowal of im¬perial privileges on the Arch¬bishop of Cyprus in 488. The adjacent Gothic arcaded monastery building is now the Folk Art Museum, dis¬playing wooden water wheels, looms, pottery, carved and painted bridal chests, lace and embroidered costumes. Opposite the nearby Pan¬cyprian Gymnasium, a high school famous for its enosis activism in the 1950s, the National Struggle Museum documents the EOKA armed uprising against British rule in the 1950s.
Revolutionary ardour is dimly recaptured by a collection of guns, hand grenades, bayonets, old news¬papers and the command car of EOKA leader Griva Dighenis, a small burgundy-¬red Hillman. The Newtown Cyprus and car hireCyprus car hire can be booked and picked up directly from Larnaca or Paphos Airport. Outside the old walls, Nicosia's smarter shops and restaurants are to be found along Evagoras and Arch¬bishop Makarios avenues, south of Elefthera Square. A modern handicrafts centre lies south of the town centre on Athalassa Avenue.
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