Sign in with Facebook"The Capital of Cyprus - twice..." Top 5 Page for this destination Nicosia by easyoar
Nicosia Travel Guide: 355 reviews and 620 photos
This page has the potential to get political, so I will try and state only facts and keep well away from politics. As most people know, Cyprus is a divided island. The Turks live in the North, the Greeks live in the South, and the UN peacekeepers live inbetween them in an area known as the Green Line. The South is also known as the Republic of Cyprus, and is recognised around the world. The North is also known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and is only recognised by Turkey.
The upshot of this all is, that if you want to go to Cyprus, and fly direct from a European country, you can only fly to the Greek South. It is possible to fly to the North, but you must fly via Turkey. It is also possible to travel from the South to the North on a day trip. Until recently this was only possible provided you weren't Greek. It was not possible to travel the other way (unless returning from your day trip). However in the last year or so, tensions between the two sides have reduced, and there is now some flow (for a limited time period) between both sides.
Not only is Cyprus a divided country, but the capital city is also divided between North and South. For foreigners it can get confusing as one place can have several different names, as Greeks Turks and the British have all given the same place (Britain did at one point have sovereign territory over Cyprus). The capital city is a fine example of this. The Greeks call it Lefkosia, The Turks call it Lefkosa, and the British call it Nicosia.
The picture at the top shows part of the Green Line as viewed from the South.
The smaller picture here shows a road sign that to me at anyrate symbolises the conflict. It is riddled with bullet holes, and has had destinations painted out (and even roundabout exits painted out) as at the time the picture was taken, they had become inaccessible due to the conflict.
- Pros:Very friendly people and great weather
- Cons:Keep away from the politics
- In a nutshell:A lot more to see than just beaches!
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Nicosia Travel Guide
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- "The Capital of Cyprus - twice..."
- "Nicosia ~ The last divided city"
- "The Last Divided City on Earth"
- " NICOSIA THE CAPITAL OF CYPRUS"
- "NICOSIA, Old Houses, Narrow Streets and History"
- "A city cut in half."
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Comments (34)
Hello Andy, Nice pages. Thank you very much and happy new year to you. Tomas Eriksson :)
An interesting place. Being divided like it is, it reminds me of Berlin during the Cold War.
Topless bathers indeed! Tooooo funny!
Hahahahahahahaha huge topless sunbather, they sure are big girls in Nicosia LOL
Great reading about the divides - the flags on the mountain are impressive too
Enjoyed your Cyprus tips. Did make a port call at Limasssol back in'79 when I took a boat from Haifa to Rhodos en-route back to the UK after 3 yr in Israel. Had a friend who worked as an olive picker there! Sounds a nice place to spend a hol! tim
Cyprus seems to be one of the most delicious hidden shelter in the mediterrenean!;) You were very lucky to spend glorious days there. They should grow more as a country despite of Greece and Turkey!;)
great pages. last week i was in North Cyprus. You've made great pages. congrats...Bora
Brilliant Nicosia pages, Andy. I've visited some of the same places with friends, and I've been to the North, although not Northern Nicosia, unfortunately. The last divided capital in Europe, apparently. fergy.
Sounds like an intriguing city...the British colonial architecture surprised me, as it looked exactly like some of the old British houses in Sudan, so much so I had to check I was still on your Nicosia page! :@P
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