Cyprus - Nicosia - Lefkosia

The Lefkosia Region

The Lefkosia (Nicosia) region combines a great, diverse cultural wealth with the contemporary everyday life.

At the centre lies the capital, a place that smoothly merges the modern business centre with the historic culture. The only divided capital of the world, steeped in history and culture with a beautiful old city surrounded by massive Venetian walls, and a museum with wonderful collection of artefacts spanning the ages.

In the countryside you’ll find olive groves and orchards leading up into the pine forest of the Machairas mountains on the peak of which and set in a scenic valley with a superb view over the plains, sits a centuries old monastery.

Along the way lies Tamassos, a rich city-kingdom in antiquity, built near important copper mines for which Cyprus was famous, while to the east lies ancient Idalion, another city kingdom, currently under excavation near the modern village of Dali.

Picturesque villages abound, with their cobbled streets and preserved stone and adobe houses, offering a glimpse of rural life in Cyprus. Worth visiting is the village of Fikardou, which has been declared a national monument and was awarded the Europa Nostra award in 1987.

The Medieval walls of Lefkosia

The first walls surrounding Lefkosia (Nicosia) in the 14th century were built by the Franks and enclosed a much larger area than the 16th Venetian Walls that still surround the old town. When the Venetians occupied Cyprus, they decided to demolish the Frankish Walls because they were old and did not offer adequate defence against new weapons such as artillery. The Frankish Walls were also too big to be manned by the Venetian army and too close to the hills in the east and southeast of the city.

Forming a circle, the walls built by the Venetians were fortified by eleven heart - shaped bastions and protected by an 80 metres wide moat. They were built of mud - brick, with the lower part only buttressed by stone. When the Ottomans occupied Lefkosia (Nicosia), they repaired the walls and covered the upper part with stones. The moat around the walls now has many different uses, serving as sports fields, public gardens, an open - air sculpture exhibition, car parks etc.

 
Archbishop's Palace

A religious, national and political monument, the Old Archbishop’s Palace is an 18th century two - storey building in the heart of Lefkosia (Nicosia) that is closely associated with modern Cypriot history.

Next to it is the new Archbishop’s Palace, a two - storey stone building in Neo - Byzantine style housing the offices of the archdiocese and the residence of the archbishop. It was built by Archbishop Makarios III between 1956 and 1960 and also houses the Byzantine Museum and the Library of the Archbishopric.

Since the completion of the new Archbishopric, the Old Archbishop’s Palace has housed the Folk Art Museum and the National Struggle Museum.

The Byzantine Art in Cyprus (East Route) Religious Route

In order to cover the entire island, the route was divided into two parts, the West route and the East route, to avoid a single long route and give time to people to visit all the monuments.

The East route starts from Lefkosia (Nicosia) and heads south with its first stop being at Pera Chorio for the Church of Agion Apostolon where there are frescoes of the 12th century. In Kellia, the church of Agios Antonios houses wonderful frescoes of the 11th and 13th centuries. Another stop is made in Larnaka for the church of Agios Lazaros built in 900 AD and, of course, for all the proposed monuments, which represent Byzantine art in various periods. Some of the monuments are common in both routes.

Monuments:

Church of Agios Antonios in Kellia,
Church of Agios Mamas and Church of Metamorfosis in Sotira,
Church of Panagia and Church of Agia Marina in Paralimni,
Monastery of Agia Napa in Agia Napa,
Church of Agios Lazaros in Larnaka (Larnaca),
Church of Aggeloktisti in Kiti,
Church of Panagia in Kivisili, Monastery of Timios Stavros in Stavrovouni and Royal Chapel in Pyrga.

Total route length: 214 kilometres.

Multi Cultural Christian Cyprus Tolerant to other Religions and Doctrines - Route B Religious Route

This route is very pleasant and covers half of the island.

Starting from Lefkosia (Nicosia), you reach Pyrga to visit the royal Latin chapel with Byzantine frescoes and you move on to Stavrovouni to visit the monastery of Timios Stavros where a piece of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified is kept.

Then, you pass Lemesos (Limassol) and Kourion to reach Timi where you will visit a small church which was converted into a mosque under Turkish rule. In Ktima, you once again come across a mosque, which used to be an Orthodox church dedicated to Agia Sofia. During the entire route, you will come across many monuments, which relate to the multi-cultural side of Cyprus.

Monuments:

Royal Chapel and Church of Agia Marina, Pyrga
- Church/Mosque of Agios Georgios, Bishopric of Lemesos (Limassol)
- Mosque/Church of Agia Sofia, Timi
- Church/Mosque of Agia Sofia, Tima, Pafos (Paphos)
- Mosque/Church of Agios Nikolaos, Chrysohou
- Mosque/Church of Agios Andronikos, Polis Chrysohous
- Mosque/Church of Agia Aikaterini and Church of Panagia Pelathousa Chortainis
- Church of Panagia Chryseleousa, Lysos.

Total route length: 82 kilometres.