Last week we visited the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia (Lefkosia in Greek). We had a number of reasons to go, including seeing the last divided capital of Europe. Cyprus’ independence in 1960 was followed by civil war between the Turkish north and the Greek south from 1963 to 1974, with the result that the island is divided. Nowhere is the division more visible than in the capital of Nicosia.
Nicosia is not far from Lemesos, about 60 kilometres (38 miles). The bus took nearly two hours, however, given the many people on it and the numerous stops. Having arrived, we headed straight to the Shacolas Tower, so as to get a bird’s-eye view of the city. There were particulary fine views of the mountains to the north. On one part of them, the Turks have placed a gigantic Turkish flag, to mark out their territory. (It can just be seen in the photo below.) It is something of an eyesore, but it prepared us for some even less attractive sights at ground level.
We then went to the Cyprus Museum. We were surprised that it was free, the more so once we saw the terrific things in it! It starts with very early stuff (not really our thing) which we skipped and went straight to classical times. There were fantastic ceramics and vases, and some fairly impressive sculptures. These included a larger-than-life-size bronze of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus decked out (or not) as a heroic nude. (This is the one you always see; we hadn’t realised before that he was in the altogether.) There was also an extensive collection of coins from the Greek and Roman periods, many of astonishing beauty.
We checked out a few other places, including the A. G. Leventis Gallery (modern and contemporary art) and a bookstore (naturally!), and then headed off for lunch in a tiny place next to a mosque. Some of their food appeared in our meats of Cyprus post.
Perhaps our favourite place of the day was the House of the Dragoman (which a friend told us we must not miss). This house, officially the Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Mansion, was built at the end of the 18th century for the same Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios, a dragoman (diplomatic officer of the Ottoman empire) who accumulated great power and wealth before succumbing to the intrigues of his enemies. The house consists of a ground floor with a beautiful courtyard and a first storey where the living quarters were. Some original objects and copies of important historical documents are on display, and the rooms have lovely natural light.
We then had a look at the remains of the walls of the city (built in a snowflake pattern by the Venetians in the 16th century) which are still impressive, and it was here that we first saw traces of the division in the city. We’ll have a separate post on the Green Line, but suffice it to say here that it is heartbreaking to see this ugly division in an otherwise quiet and restful city.
We visited another museum in the afternoon, the Leventis Municipal Museum (also free). Here we found several private collections bequeathed to the museum with a wide variety of items from antiquity to the present day. The museum itself is very attractive.
Then we took a walk through the Chrysaliniotissa neighbourhood, which has a series of narrow streets with brightly painted houses. Many of the houses had beautiful plants and/or trees adorning them. But it was a shock to come to the end of one of the streets and find barbed wire and chain-link fencing. (More on this soon.)
Nicosia is exotic. We suspect if we hadn’t just come from Turkey, we’d find it even more so. As it is, hearing the call to prayer and seeing the odd mosque or Turkish sign felt oddly familiar.
