Cyprus - Nicosia/Lefkosia

 We knew the visit to Nicosia would be a full day event so got up, had breakfast and stopped for a "take away" coffee, then got on the road. It was motorway all the way to the outskirts of the city. One of the members of the Wednesday walking group had sent us directions to a parking spot she recommended and Rick "Google Mapped"(new verb) us in there. Just an empty lot and a guy on a chair but it was just 3 Euro for the day and he gave us directions. As we left we realized that finding the lot again, after wandering around the old part of the city might be a problem so Rick tried to flag it on Google Maps and I asked him to take pictures of the street names. At that point a couple stopped to ask if we needed help. From their accents we knew they were Canadian - yep, live in Toronto, brother lives in Port Dover, they used to own a house just behind the beer store. Small world. Anyway they pointed us to the Green Line barrier.

First glimpse of the barrier and the abandoned buildings beyond.

Some, previously nice, homes on the Greek side of the line, were also abandoned.

We followed a street next to the barricades

periodically able to see the empty buildings of the buffer zone,

until we reached the check point where we could walk through. Officials checked our passports on the Greek side, we walked about 20ft and then Turkish officials checked our passports. Rick wanted his stamped and it took them a while to find a stamp for his passport. I guess they don't get asked for that often.

Unlike many fortified cities, Nicosia (Lefkosia) isn’t defined by its surrounding walls. Venetian bastions still enclose the old part of the city, but a much newer barrier holds sway. The so-called Green Line – a demilitarised buffer zone patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers – scythes through the middle of town, slicing it in two. This is Europe’s last divided capital, but its entwined history straddles both sides.

The UN Buffer Zone (commonly called the Green Line) was marked out in 1964 as a temporary measure to restore peace after a decade of inter-communal fighting between Turkish and Greek Cypriots in the fledgling independent nation of Cyprus. Instead, the barrier has remained in place ever since, expanding to slice through the entire island.

In the capital, the Green Line separates Nicosia (Lefkosia), the capital of the majority Greek-Cypriot Republic of Cyprus, from North Nicosia (Lefkoşa), capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by the government of Turkey.

These days most international visitors (and Cypriots themselves) can easily hop between both sides, thanks to the loosening of cross-border restrictions in the early 2000s.from lonelyplanet.com

The Green Line (so called because the British General who established it drew it with a green pencil on the map) was established to separate Greek and Turkish Cypriots following violence between them in the Nicosia. After Turkey attacked Cyprus, in 1974, it was extended to cross the whole island.

Of course the first shop after the border crossing sold Turkish Delight.

We didn't really have much of a plan but started by trying to find the city walls so we could walk the perimeter of the old part. We were immediately off the tourist track and into an area of derelict buildings that mostly seemed to be used as car repair shops.

One similarity, still plenty of cats.

We finally found the walls. The old city was surrounded by a snowflake shaped wall with Bastions at each point. This bastion had barbed wire, a UN marked observation tower and a UN vehicle in the old moat.

Also in the old moat, an astro turf covered soccer field,

a garden with peacocks and

a garden nursery with fields and greenhouses.

All that remains of the walls is the wall of the moat

and the outlines of the bastions. Car park on the top of this one

and the Presidential Palace built on another one. I asked permission of the armed guards to take this picture but did not dare ask them (yes, there were lots) if I could take pictures of the palace itself.

In just one block we went from dilapidated and abandoned buildings (this one showing how it was constructed)

to an area undergoing rejuvenation

with a scattering of upscale coffee shops full of smartly dressed young people.

A house number tile with the Hamsa Hand.

The eye symbol seen on some Hamsa hands is not the evil eye, but rather an eye that guards the wearer against the malevolent force of the evil eye by looking out for it. It's somewhat of an “anti-evil eye” that brings positivity while also shielding the wearer from negative energy.

The talisman brings good fortune and wards off evil, depending on how you wear it. If the hand is facing downwards, the owner is open to the universe's goodness and welcoming in good fortune and prosperity. A hand facing up (generally with an eye) wards off the evil eye and protects the wearer from bad luck. 

The Hamsa hand has various meanings throughout the many cultures and religions in which it is represented. Its most universal symbol is that of unity and protection, and in every representation, the Hamsa hand is a means of protection from evil.  from jordonjewelry.com

One of the original gates. Now a lane of traffic drives on each side of it through gaps created in the wall.

We heard the "call to prayer" and saw a man and two young boys taking off their shoes and washing at the fountain before entering the Mosque.

 I realized when writing this that I had only seen men entering the Mosques, only men's shoes at the entrance and it was a man and 2 boys we saw preparing. So I did a little googling and it seems that women may pray in a Mosque but it is preferable that they pray at home. Some Mosques have separate areas for men and women to pray.

I recorded a part of the "call to prayer" but forgot that if I video in landscape I can't flip it to portrait, like I can with a photo. So sorry, the picture is sideways.

In a cemetery next door.

Shoes at the door. I stood beside the open door and listened. By the tone of voice I would say it was a sermon.

It looked as if it might have been a church before. The minaret was a different, newer stone and the windows didn't have stained glass

instead they had these decorated grills. Not sure if they were stone or wood.

By now we were trying to head back towards the border crossing point but the street names (and lack there of) and convoluted streets were making it difficult to follow google map instructions. We just knew we were headed in the right general direction.

Attracted by the street art

we ended up

at the Municipal Market.

By now it was about noon and the meat section had all packed up

But the clothes (mostly ponchos and pashminas)

and produce were still going strong.

 It is now about 9pm and I am only half way through describing our day so I think I will leave the rest for the next blog post and leave you with a photo by Rick.

Crow on a Gargoyle.