Architecture sights in Lefkoşa (North Nicosia)
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Selimiye Mosque
North Nicosia's most prominent landmark - also clearly visible from the southern half of the city - is the Selimiye Mosque. This strange-looking building, a cross between a French Gothic church and a mosque, has an interesting history. Work started on the church in 1209 and progressed slowly. Louis IX of France, on his way to the Crusades, stopped by in 1248 and gave the building process a much needed shot in the arm by offering the services of his retinue of artisans and builders.
However, the church took another 78 years to complete and was finally consecrated in 1326 as the Church of Agia Sofia. Up until 1570 the church suffered depredation at the hands of the Genoese …
reviewed
-
Bedesten
Another building being renovated as part of the 'Nicosia Master Plan', the ruined and usually locked Bedesten was originally a small Byzantine church built in the 6th century and augmented in the 14th century by the Catholic church. During the 82 years of Venetian rule it became the Church of the Orthodox Metropolitan. After the Ottomans took Lefkosia in 1570, the church was used as a grain store and as a general market, but was basically left to disintegrate.
Today you can peer through the fencing and still make out the layout of the original churches. Medieval tombstones from various parts of Cyprus are currently kept in a section of the Bedesten. The north doorway has …
reviewed
