Things to do in Lefkosia (South Nicosia)
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Green Line Walk
Despite the fact that crossing into the North is now easy and some of the 'mystery of the other side' has therefore vanished, the Green Line and the spooky buffer zone with its abandoned, crumbling houses still fascinate foreigners. The Green Line is unmissable and it exudes a sense of division. While there's not a lot to see once you are there (save for some creative graffiti work), its mere presence gives Lefkosia its bizarre edge.
You'll see the double minarets of the Agia Sofia mosque, North Nicosia's most remarkable landmark, with the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags that hang between them like washing. The Green Line embodies the eeriness of the capital's and the c…
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Syrian Arab Friendship Club
Apart from being one of the best places to eat in Lefkosia, this is the ideal place for vegetarians. The meze is massive, so approach it with respect, and if you come for lunch, you won't be eating dinner. The large garden is laden with cooling fans and greenery, and children are welcome to play.
The service is superfriendly, and the wonderful food is an experience of its own: green beans, chick peas, tabouleh (bulgur-wheat and parsley salad) and plenty of meat too. Try the delicious mahalabia (a light, rice custard, served cold) dessert and, once you're so stuffed you can't move, puff on a nargileh.
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Zanettos Taverna
This place has a great reputation in the city, as it is allegedly one of the oldest traditional taverns. The locals flock here in their dozens, and it's definitely worth joining them. A great place for meze, it's hidden away in a slightly shady part of town, where the painted ladies sit in their doorways, waiting for business.
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Venetian Walls
The Venetian Walls are like Lefkosia's logo. They form a border around the Old City that is so unique that when you see it once, on a map or from a high viewpoint, you'll never forget it. And that's partly to do with its odd shape: is it like a snowflake? A star? A hand grenade? Or a horizontally sliced artichoke?
Despite its impressive appearance, this circular defence wall that surrounds both the northern and southern halves of Old Lefkosia unfortunately failed in the purpose for which it was built. The Venetian rulers erected the walls between 1567 and 1570 with the express aim of keeping the feared Ottoman invaders out of Lefkosia. The appointed engineer Ascanio Savor…
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Cyprus Museum
This is the island's most interesting museum and houses the best collection of archaeological finds in Cyprus. The original building, erected in 1883, is opposite the lovely municipal gardens. It's a 10-minute walk west of Plateia Eleftherias.
Highlights include the remarkable display of terracotta figures in room 4, discovered in 1929 at Agia Irini, north of Morfou (Güzelyurt) in the North. The 2000 figures, dating back to the 7th to 6th centuries BC, are displayed as they were found, in a semicircular order. Apart from two female representations, the figures are male and many are warriors. Their war chariots indicate the worship of a warrior god, presumably a centaur or…
reviewed
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Ledra Palace Hotel Crossing
This is the only spot on the island reserved exclusively for pedestrian and bicycle crossings between the North and the South. Masses of tourists and locals now cross from one side to the other, and many cross in the middle of the night too, after a late night out.
The crossing is partially blocked by a blue-and-white painted wall with graphic posters depicting those missing since the 1974 invasion. There are also posters depicting the murder of three Greek Cypriots by Turkish soldiers near Deryneia in the eastern part of the island at a demonstration in 1996. On Sunday mornings Greek Cypriot women gather to remember the 1974 invasion and hand out literature to the accomp…
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Makarios Cultural Foundation
This complex of the Makarios Cultural Foundation consists of three main exhibition areas. The European Art Gallery presents 120 oil paintings of various European schools of art from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The themes are mainly religious with works by Van Dyck, Rubens, Tintoretto, Lorraine and Delacroix. There's a library that opens for research and reading.
Nearby is the Greek Independence War Gallery, which contains maps, copper engravings and paintings of people and events from the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The Byzantine Art Museum has the island's largest collection of icons related to Cyprus. There are some 220 pieces in the museum, dating from the 5…
reviewed
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House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios
The well-preserved House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios belonged to Kornesios, the Great Dragoman of Cyprus from 1779 to 1809. A dragoman (tercüman in Turkish) was an interpreter or liaison officer between the Ottoman and Orthodox authorities.
Kornesios, originally from Kritou Terra village, accumulated his vast wealth through various estates and tax exemptions, and became the most powerful man in Cyprus at the time. But, as you may guess, his extravagance was his undoing. A peasant revolt in 1804, aimed at the ruling classes in general, forced him out of Cyprus and to Istanbul. Returning from exile five years later, he was accused of treason, his property was confiscated, …
reviewed
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Roccas (Kaytazağa) Bastion
This bastion was unique throughout Cyprus in that it was the only place where Greek and Turkish Cypriots could eyeball each other at close quarters, pre-2003. Nowadays it's hardly an attraction, since it is so easy to actually cross over to the opposite side and eyeball each other face to face. It is interesting, however, as a reminder of the noncontact between the two communities that lasted for around thirty years.
It is situated about 200m south of the Ledra Palace Hotel crossing and is easily identifiable by the no-parking signs along the bastion walls. The UN buffer zone separating the two sides by a normally comfortable margin virtually disappears here for a stretch…
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Omeriye Hammam
Switch off your mobile, put your shower cap on, and strip down to your birthday suit for a lovely, relaxing Turkish bath at Omeriye Hammam. This building was recently restored and sports a luxurious, stylish design. The domed reception has an enormous chandelier hanging over the circular bar area, while candles, mirrors and a refreshing minty scent accompany the baths themselves.
The 16th-century Omeriye Hammam is a safe, popular and relaxing spot, with separate days for men and women, and same-sex masseurs. As you go in you get a complimentary bottle of water, towels (one large, one small) and a cup of herbal tea to relax with after the bath. Apart from the basic steam b…
reviewed
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Tziellari
You won't have to look hard to find this place. All you have to do is open your ears as you get to the murky night-time Plateia Achiepiskopou Kyprianou, then follow the sound of the bouzouki down a dark alley and push the heavy doors into Tziellari. There is such a distinct atmosphere in this restaurant that you might feel as if you'd walked onto a film set from the 1930s: dark wooden walls, demure lighting, and often entire families dining and Greek dancing, arms outstretched.
The meze is as typical as you get, starring the Cypriot favourites such as olives, grilled haloumi, souvlaki and seftalia (grilled Cypriot sausage). There is house wine, zivania (local firewater) a…
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Omeriye Mosque
Originally the Augustinian Church of St Mary, the Omeriye Mosque dates from the 14th century. The church was destroyed by the Ottomans as they entered Lefkosia in 1570. It was subsequently restored as a mosque, based on a belief that this was the spot where the Muslim prophet Omer was buried in the 7th century. Its tall minaret can easily be spotted some distance away; the entrance to the mosque is about halfway along Trikoupi.
Today the mosque is used primarily as a place of worship by visiting Muslims from neighbouring Arab countries. Non-Muslims may visit as long they observe the general etiquette required - dress conservatively, leave shoes at the door and avoid offic…
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Laïki Yitonia
Laïki Yitonia, meaning 'popular neighbourhood', was restored after it served for many years as an area for painted ladies and dodgy merchants. This tiny southern part of the Old City is Lefkosia's only tourist area. This means that it's crammed with bad restaurants with tacky water features, where waiters try to lure you in with cheesy greetings, and the food is usually overpriced. However, it's rather pretty, and a nice place for a short stroll.
With so many good restaurants and taverns in the city, try to avoid eating in this area, with the exception of 1900 Paei Kairos.
The CTO has an office here, and you can stock up on most maps and other tourist brochures free of ch…
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Byzantine Art Museum
Located within the complex of the Makarios Cultural Foundation, this museum has the island's largest collection of icons related to Cyprus. There are some 220 pieces in the museum, dating from the 5th to the 19th centuries.
Among the more interesting items on display are the icons of Christ & the Virgin Mary (12th century) from the Church of the Virgin Mary of Arakas at Lagoudera, and the Resurrection (13th century) from the Church of St John Lambadistis Monastery at Kalopanayiotis. In addition, there are six examples of the Kanakaria Mosaics, which were stolen from the Panagia Kanakaria (Kanakaria Church) in Northern Cyprus after the 1974 Turkish invasion.
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Archbishop's Palace
A mock Venetian building, this was the scene of much of the fighting in 1956, as well as during the 1974 military coup and subsequent Turkish invasion of the North. Almost totally destroyed by EOKA-B (the postindependence reincarnation of EOKA, which mostly fought Turkish Cypriots) while they attempted to kill Archbishop Makarios on 15 July 1974, the palace was rebuilt during the 1980s.
The building, which is generally closed to the public, is the official residence of the Archbishop of Cyprus. The palace (and everything else in the vicinity) is overshadowed by a hideous black statue of Archbishop Makarios III, which looms across the square.
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Famagusta Gate
The most photographed and best preserved of the three original gates that led into the Old City of Lefkosia. It's in the Caraffa Bastion off Leoforos Athinas. Following more than a century of neglect, the whole structure was renovated in 1981 and now serves as a concert venue and exhibition hall. Its impressive wooden door and sloping façade opens out onto a tunnel that leads through the rampart wall.
Outside the tunnel and to the right is a small open-air arena where concerts by visiting artists are held, usually during the summer months. The area surrounding the gate has great trendy eating and drinking places.
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Faneromeni Church
The centre of the city before Plateia Eleftherias took over in 1974, Plateia Faneromenis is a quiet square, so silent that birdsong can be heard only metres away from the bustle of Ledra street. In the centre is the impressive Faneromeni Church, built in 1872 on the site of an ancient Orthodox nunnery. It is the largest church within the city walls and is a mixture of neoclassical, Byzantine and Latin styles.
The Marble Mausoleum on the eastern side of the church was built in memory of four clerics executed by the Ottoman governor in 1821, during the newly declared Greek War of Independence.
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Pafos Gate
This westernmost gate, known by the Venetians as Porta San Domenico, is one of the three traditional entrances to Old Lefkosia. It has been a spot for a kind of flag stand-off since 1963, with the flags of the Republic of Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Greece and Turkey fluttering defiantly at each other. The gate served as an arsenal warehouse for the Ottomans, and as a police headquarters for the British.
The Pafos Gate, left firmly open, guards a narrow pedestrian passage under the wall. The adjoining breach in the wall that allows traffic into the Old City is a much later addition.
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Lefkosia Municipal Arts Centre & Library
For something a little less cerebral than the museums, duck into the small arcade to the right of the National Struggle Museum and head along Apostolou Varnava for one block to the rather avant-garde Lefkosia Municipal Arts Centre & Library. Its air-conditioned interior contains an occasionally bizarre but mostly interesting collection of art. The permanent collection includes paintings and sculpture, and other works from the Dimitris Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art in Greece. Exhibitions vary monthly. The centre also has a coffee shop and art library for visitors.
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Da Paolo
A small Italian place with pizza that smells so divine you will throw caution to the wind and forget all about your low-carb diet. The interior (only used in winter) is a red-brick room, with high ceilings and tall, wooden-shuttered windows. Everything smells of the herbs and garlic that dangle above the ovens. Waiters risk their lives carrying your food across the street to the summer garden, which sits right on top of the Venetian walls.
Wood-fired brick ovens bake your pizza, and the pasta is always al dente.
reviewed
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Bonsai
The best Japanese place in town. Sitting deep inside the Holiday Inn, Bonsai serves tasty sushi that goes around the counter, as you sit on high stools and get hypnotised by the moving choice. Nigiri sushi consisting of raw tuna, hamour, sword fish, omelette, salmon, mackerel, octopus, shrimp, squid and California rolls is a delicacy. An all-you-can eat sushi buffet is on offer every Monday and Thursday lunchtime, and Tuesday dinner time.
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Odos Othellou
This small Greek blue-and-white house is like an apparition on the dimly lit street. The little wooden tables outside are the perfect spot for a quiet dinner or drink, away from the traffic and the people. Like most traditional outfits, this place serves meze, but the emphasis is on the mainland Greek version, which is all about grilled meat. For a set price, you can eat, have one free drink and listen to bouzouki (inside the restaurant only).
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1900 Paei Kairos
The only place in the tourist part worth going to. It's a pretty little Greek-style mezedopolio (a small restaurant specialising in mezedes). It serves mix-and-match mezedes such as stryftari (a pie made up of five cheeses), eggplant stuffed with cheese in filo pastry, and eggplant patties. Have a tipple of tsipouro (a clear, distilled spirit) or try a selection of the mainly Greek wines on offer.
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Ostrich Wonderland Theme Park
This theme park might tickle your fancy. It's reputedly the biggest ostrich park (and farm) in Europe and is 25 minutes outside Lefkosia. Your kids can learn everything there is to know about the powerful speedy birds and their eggs too, and use the park's playground; a sightseeing tour is included in the admission price. To get here, follow the Troödos highway, take the Palehori exit and follow the signs to Agios Ioannis Maloundas.
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Ledra Museum-Observatory
Not really a museum, although it likes to call itself one, Ledra Museum-Observatory is an observatory on top of Ermes (formerly Woolworths) department store. Basically a good vantage point over the city, here you can use telescopes to gaze at the whole of Lefkosia and trace the Green Line. It is also a great place to orient yourself. Explanations of various buildings and neighbourhoods are given in English, French and German.
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