Cyprus: Nicosia/Lefkosia
Day Three: Nicosia/Lefkosia- the last divided capitol in the world.
16th Century map of Nicosia from the Leventis Museum showing its Venetian 'petal' walls
An art nouveau style door from 1909 in Nicosia
Today M and I took the bus to the capitol of Cyprus: Nicosia/Lefkosia. The capitol is divided between the Greek south and the Turkish north and is known locally as Lefkosia. Since the 4th century AD the city had some form of the name Lefkosia. When the Lusignan Crusaders from France arrived in the region the name Nisocia (Nicosie in French) was also given to the city. The city is literally divided by a wall that can only be crossed by pedestrian traffic via Ledra Street (which M and I did). In comparison to the Turkish portion of the city, the Greek side is much more affluent and heavily populated with a number of commercial shopping areas. The primary attractions in Nicosia/Lefkosia are the Cyprus Archeological Museum, the St. Sophia Church (which we missed), the 16th-century flower/snowflake shaped Venetian wall surrounding the city, and the border crossing between the Greek and Turkish side.
Just a glimpse of the Venetian Wall
The bus ride to Nicosia was easily accessible (with a bus stop just outside of where we are staying) and very affordable (7 euros each for a round trip). It was a largely uneventful hour-long journey in which both M and I promptly fell asleep with open books and ipads on our laps. Based on the fleeting seconds in which I could keep my eyes open during the drive I can say that we didn’t miss much in terms of scenery. Rolling hills that were not particularly attractive flanked the freeway. The cities we passed or drove through could have been any city in Europe/America with the ubiquitous Ikea, malls, and car dealerships. We arrived in Nicosia through the New City, the newer expanse of the Nicosia outside of the Venetian walls. The street we drove down was lined with typical middle to upscale brand shops and department stores. The bus dropped us off at Plateia Solomou, located just outside of the southwest Venetian walls of the old city.
Upon exiting the bus we shook out our sleepy bodies, donned our sunglasses, and made our way to the first stop on our itinerary: The Cyprus Archeological Museum. The museum is located outside of the Venetian walls, to the west of the old city (and a 10-minute walk from where the bus dropped us). Fittingly, the architecture of the entry to the museum is a portal of white columns with iconic capitals topped with a simple marble pediment. The Museum, founded in 1882, contains the largest collection of archeological finds from the island. However, many of the more significant pieces have left the island and can be found in the US, UK, and in other major collections in Europe. The most extensive smuggling of artifacts (around 35,000 pieces) was by US Ambassador, Luigi Palma di Cesnola in the 1870s. A number of these objects became a part of the then newly established Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Also, some of these smuggled pieces were part of the collection of Stanford University but were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. (oops!) The darling of the collection is the Aphrodite of Soli, 1st century BC, which is a classic and exquisite example of Roman sculpture (and typical in that it is missing its arms and legs). Another highlight is the army of 2000 terracotta figures from Northwest Cyprus from the 7th-6th centuries BC. M and I had our own favorites (as seen below), but since photography is technically not allowed in the museum, I could only capture hurried, and therefore blurry, photographs. The museum was mostly empty apart from a tour group of about 20 middle-aged Germans. M refreshed her German language skills by shadowing the group of fanny-pack-clad tourists and relayed to me some interesting tidbits of the tour guide’s commentary. We learned which pieces were particularly unique to Cypriot art and which were influenced by other cultures. Also, the guide informed the group about how the Romans would simply replace the heads of the imperial statues as opposed to constructing a completely new portrait statue every time the ruler changed. Smart. Whoever came up with that idea had a good head on their shoulders (Zing!).
Terracotta figures. They are arranged the way in which they were found in excavation
One of my favorite busts in the museum
M's favorite: ancient masks
memorial (?) niche statue
The Cyprus Archeological Museum took about an hour to view. The orientation of the rooms is such that the visitors are directed chronologically and thematically through the 14 rooms. The collection, while it did contain a few gems, was relatively standard as far as archeological museums go. It is apparent that Cyprus lost many of its most impressive artifacts to other collections. This is not to say that we did not appreciate the collection in the Cyprus Archeological Museum!
M and I then made our way to the Old City, over the relatively well-preserved Venetian moat and walls. We wandered up Ledra Street, one of the larger pedestrian commercial streets of the city, lined with clothing stores and tourist shops. We headed to our lunch destination, stopping in a few shops on the way and taking note of the old doors fronting many of the buildings on the side streets (see header photo). Following lunch and a walk through more side streets we came to the Leventis Municipal Museum. This small museum, which was nicely organized and appeared to be well-funded, traced the history of Nicosia from 2000 BC. It cataloged the history of Nicosia/Leftosia’s rule and status through paintings, prints, household and luxury objects, and local craft. While we were in the museum clouds suddenly converged, the sky darkened, and buckets of rain fell from the sky. Luckily it all cleared up by the time we finished with the museum…perfect!
Ledra Street...
Leventis Museum: a book published when the British took control of Cyprus
Unique pendant with 4 different male faces depicted. It is possibly meant to represent the four winds in the Leventis Museum.
The different faces of the above pendent.
Traditional belt buckles in the Leventis Museum
Unfortunately by the time we finished with the Leventis Museum many of the other sites we could have visited were closed. For some reason everything closes before 3:30 in the off season (meaning before May and after October). So instead we meandered through the narrow winding streets of the city, eventually making our way to the pedestrian border crossing on Ledra Street. It was a bit strange to be walking down a street and suddenly hit a dividing wall, built up of debris and cement and topped with sirens and barbed wire. The Old City as a whole, outside of the more developed avenues like Ledra Street, could be described as cluttered. There were plenty of instances of “beautiful urban decay” which did make for some pleasing photographs (which may be considered “poverty porn” or perhaps more accurately: “ruin porn“). Granted, we didn’t walk through the ENTIRE Old City but it seemed that it was a consistent mix of interspersed tourist shops, industrial fabrication buildings, boutiques, restaurant, corner shops, and private residences.
This is apparently the symbol for Nicosia. It is embeded in the sidewalks. We don't really understand why there is a person walking on a diving board? or maybe it is a DIVIDING board...
Piles of things around the sidestreets of South Nicosia
A wall in south Nicosia
Witty: a Berlin Wall "Checkpoint Charlie" restaurant next to the bufferzone...
Crossing the boarder was straightforward and we heeded the advice given by our host’s and had a loose paper stamped instead of our actual passport. I don’t think this precaution is completely necessary anymore for US passport holders but I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry!
The Turkish side of Nicosia was not terribly different or impressive in comparison to the South. We literally just walked around for about 30 minutes, bought a bag of roasted chickpeas, and went back across the border. It was apparent that this side of the city is not as mainstream commercial or as wealthy as the South, but the side streets were essentially the same. The most visible difference was the number of Turkish flags flown high alongside images of the great Atatürk. Yep, this is Turkey!
North Nicosia is proud to be Turkish... the Ataturk is over on top of the building on the right.
A medical supply shop with a sense of humor in North Nicosia
Kids playing in a downpour puddle in North Nicosia
After crossing back over the border we headed towards the Syrian Arab Friendship Club for dinner (read more about this DELICIOUS meal in the Cyprus Food Post!). The restaurant was located outside of the Old City through a wealthy area that seemed to have a healthy ex-pat population (as indicated by the American School, Viennese bakery, Ballet studio, and various other international institutions). There was certainly a stark contrast between the clutter of the Old City and the open suburban sprawl of this section of the New City. We boarded our bus back to Limassol around 8:30 and reflected on our day exploring the last divided Capitol with tummies full of Meze.
M enjoying the flowers of the New City of Nicosia
