Nicosia has been the capital of Cyprus since the 11^th century. It is encircled by strong fortress walls, which were built in the 16^th century by the Venetians, and is renowned for its fabled past. Lefkoşa (the Turkish name for the city) has a mixture of history and modern city.

Throughout the history of Cyprus, the capital has moved from Salamis to Lapta to Larnaca and now Nicosia. Nicosia being the longest duration. Nicosia has had various names since ancient times, those being, Lidra, Levkonteon, Kermia, I Hora, Şeher, Levkosia, Nicosia and now Lefkosia or Lefkoşa

It’s like going back in time when you walk through the narrow streets of the old city. Surrounding the city centre is a perfect circular wall with eleven forts. The circle radius is 840 metres and the length of the walls about 5000 metres.

Porta del Proveditore, or Kyrenia Gate as it is now known, is one of the three entrances to the city. Telling us about the city’s past are the stone tablets dating back to Venetian Era, Ottoman Reign and British Colonial. At the Mevlevi Museum you will find old Sheikhs tombs and Ottoman tombstones.

Of social and commercial importance is Atatürk Square, previously known as Konak or Sarayönü Square. As a symbol of the Venetian Reign, the Venetian Column or Dikilitaş (Obelisk) was brought from Salamis and erected in the centre of the square. To replace the lost St. Mark’s Lion of the Venetians, the British placed a bronze globe on the top of the 6 m high column. On the base of the column you will find coats of arms of some noble Venetian families.

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Tags: Capital, City, nicosia, NICOSIA – The Capital City, of cyprus, THE

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Cities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.