Nicosia Things to Do Tips by easyoar Top 5 Page for this destination

Inside the Belediye Pazari

Once you get inside the Belediye Pazari, it is quite a laid back place, and it is easy to stroll through and not feel any pressure to buy anything.

This photo shows one of the craft stalls inside that sells baskets. I couldn't help but wonder whether the stall holder was wearing one of his baskets on his head, or is it just a dodgy afro???

I had to know the answer to this question, so I asked VT's resident Nicosia expert (that's Profsmiley) to do some private investigation for me. What she discovered was pretty shocking. It now appears the guy has been on the Michael Jackson bleaching treatment, AND has had a basket surgically implanted into his scalp. You can see the radical transformation here:

BTW, It is also possible to get food and drinks inside, and I found people very friendly.

Address: Right by the Green Line

Inside the Cathedral of Ayia Sophia Churches Review

See my Ayia Sophia page for more details. Ayia Sophia (meaning Saint Sophia) is an old cathedral in the Turkish part of Nicosia. These days the cathedral is now a mosque called Selimiye Camii.

The picture shows the inside of Ayia Sophia as it was in the very early 1990's which was the first time I went there. The colourful walls depicting people have been whitewashed to make it more in line with how the internals of a mosque should be. The picture also shows the flag for the Turkish part of Cyprus, which is virtually an inverse of the Turkish flag, plus two red horizontal bars. Unlike a church, there are no seats or benches - just empty floor space, which makes mosques feel more spacious.

Address: Can't miss the minarets!

Directions: In Nicosia (Turkish side), look for the minarets and you can't miss it!

The Cathedral of Ayia Sophia Churches Review

Ayia Sophia is a Greek name, and this building is in the Turkish North. These days the cathedral is a mosque called Selimiye Camii.

With a name like Ayia Sophia, it is easy to imagine that the cathedral was originally a Greek Orthodox cathedral, but when it was first built, it was actually Roman Catholic.

Building work on the church started in 1209, and took almost 150 years to complete. It is thought to be one of the best examples of Gothic Art in Cyprus. The minarets were added around 1570 when the Ottomans conquered Nicosia.

This mosque has a sound broadcasting system to alert the faithful to pray. I have spent quite a bit of time in the South of Nicosia, and it can wake you up in the morning with the call to prayers!

Directions: Follow the minarets!

Signs of conflict

However friendly people seem, it is highly advisable to steer away from politics in Cyprus. People have lost homes (or even relatives) in fighting that has gone on in the island during its recent turbulent past. You can therefore evoke some very strong reactions if you say the wrong thing.

Enlarge this photo, you will see that the sign is riddled with bullet holes. You will also see that due to the partitioning of the island, that the sign has had several of its destinations painted out (from memory these were Kyrenia and Famagusta) as it was not possible to access these destinations from the South when the picture was taken.

This is certainly not the only sign of conflict you will see. Look carefully and you will see bullet marks on the sides of buildings in several places. This picture was taken near the Green Line on the road to Ledra Palace.

Address: Near the Green Line on the road to Ledra Palace.

Inonu Meydani and Kyrenia Gate during celebrations

This picture shows Inonu Meydani and Kyrenia Gate the day after a large national celebration in the North. This picture was taken on the 30th August (a few years or so ago...) - and the flags and decorations were out for a Turkish National Day celebrating one of Ataturks victories in 1922 (thanks to VT Profsmiley for letting me know what the celebration was!)

Normally none of the flags or decorations are up. There are no prizes for guessing that the statue is of Kemal Ataturk! Just to the right hand side of the picture the Nicosia Walls can be seen. There is a flight of steps cut into them here allowing people to climb up to the top where there are a few cannons. There is then a barbed wire fence, behind which is the official residence of one Rauf Denktash - The President of the North.

Of the flags that can be seen, the flag that is mostly red is the flag of Turkey, the flags that appear to be almost an inverse of this but with an additional two red bars are the flags of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Kyrenia Gate

Kyrenia Gate is in the Northern half of the city. Whilst the gate is reasonably well preserved in itself, it does not compare with Famagusta Gate for a couple of reasons. Firstly the design is far less elaborate, and it has been compared with a sentry box or pill box (a pill box is a half buried concrete hut with slots for guns to shoot out of). Secondly the walls that used to go right up to ir have been removed on either side to allow cars to pass through (this was done in 1931).

This unfortunately gives Kyrenia Gate the feeling of being little more than a glorified roundabout. To my knowledge it is not open to visitors, and I doubt there would be much to see inside if it were...

Address: Cemal Gursel Caddesi

The Old City Walls

In the 1500's the Venetians built walls around what was then the City of Nicosia (these days the city is much larger). Shortly afterwards the Turks captured the city, with the walls pretty much intact.

Around the walls are 11 bastions which have a kind of arrow head shape. 5 of these bastions are in the Greek side, and 5 more in the Turkish side, and yes that only makes 10! There is one more in the UN controlled buffer zone.

To let people within the walls, there were a series of gates. There are three that still exist today - Paphos gate, Famagusta Gate and Kyrenia Gate. More on some of these in other tips.

A good place to see the walls is on the Greek side. Start at Eleftheria Square and look at the gardens on either side of it. The best place to see them is in the gardens and car park that are on the opposite side of Eleftheria Square to the kiosks. There are some steps leading down to the gardens from the square.

As a point of interest, the Nicosia Municipality uses the walls for its logo. This logo only shows 8 bastions. Not sure where the missing 3 are. I have pasted the logo into my picture here which shows a bastion a bit further round from the carpark area.

Address: Just down from Eleftheria Square

Colonial Architecture

This building was built by the British whilst they were still controlling Cyprus. Even before I was told, the moment I saw this building I could see this was old Colonial British, as it is a very typical design. This building is in the North, and it is used as law courts and registrar offices these days (thanks to VT Profsmiley for confirming this for me, I had remembered it as the Post Office, but this is opposite!).

The South of Nicosia has typically been richer and a lot of older buildings have been demolished for larger and newer building projects. The North of Cyprus on the other hand has not had as much money (being unrecognised as a state by all countries except Turkey). This does mean however that the North has many more quaint old buildings than the South, but with a proposed settlement looking more and more likely in Cyprus, this will probably change, so visit it quickly!

Catkins on the Trees

I wasn't sure on the best place for this tip to go!

Lookout for the catkins on the trees in May time. They are bright red (well they were bright red before VT kindly faded them for me!) and very fluffy, and much more exciting than any of the ones you will see in Britain!

This picture was taken very close to the Liberation Monument in the South side of Nicosia.

The Pancyprian Gymnasium

The Pancyprian Gymnasium is considered to be one of the better schools in the South. It was here that Lawrence Durrell (brother of the more famous Gerald Durrell) taught for quite a few years prior and during to the Greek struggle for independence in the 1950s.

Many of the students taught by Lawrence Durrell were very pro-EOKA and were directly involved with the conflict. Even though Durrell was British, he appears to have been virtually immune to EOKAs violence, mostly because he lived a very independent life in a small village away from other Brits and was considered pretty neutral - or so he claims in his book 'Bitter Lemons' which is well worth a read if you want to find out more about the EOKA period.

Directions: Near the Archbishops Palace