Sampling Two Cultures in the Cypriot
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Originally published August 19, 2005 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 27, 2005 at 1:31 PM Sampling two cultures in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia A five-minute walk from where a bunker manned by armed soldiers divides the Turkish north and Greek south sides of this Mediterranean island... By Carol Pucci Seattle Times travel writer NICOSIA, Cyprus — A five-minute walk from PREV 1 of 3 NEXT where a bunker manned by armed soldiers divides the Turkish north and Greek south sides of this Mediterranean island, Starbucks manager Faye Avraamidou serves iced lattes to customers relaxing on a sidewalk patio. The signs above the cash register are in Greek and English; the coffee prices are in CAROL PUCCI / THE SEATTLE Cypriot pounds. TIMES A boy helps a priest ring a bell during a When Avraamidou finds out that my religious procession outside St. John the husband and I are from Seattle, Starbucks' Evangelist Greek Orthodox church in headquarters, she offers us drinks on the South Nicosia. The interior is covered house. with frescoes painted in the 1700s. "Welcome to Cyprus," she says, extending her hand. A few days later, on the other side of the bunker, a man named Dervis introduces himself as we walk along a street lined with storefronts with names such as "Dubai Bazaar" and the "Istanbul Shop." The signs are in Arabic and English; the prices are in Turkish lira. Dervis, too, shakes our hands and welcomes us to Cyprus, not with a latte, but a slice of halva, a Middle Eastern sweet made with ground sesame seeds that his friends, the Yagcioglu family, have been making for five generations. Imagine a country of 1 million people so small (about the size of Connecticut) that you can drive most distances in less time than it takes to go between Portland and Seattle. Then divide it two-thirds, one-third, each section with its own culture, religion, food, flag, language and traditions. This is the island of Cyprus. Ruled during various periods by the Greeks, Romans, Ottoman Turks and British, it was politically Nicosia and physically split in 1974, when tensions Where between Greek and Turkish Cypriots came to a head and Turkey intervened to stop a Nicosia is on the island of Cyprus, 45 coup led a Greek military junta. miles south of Turkey. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after Nowhere are the contrasts more striking than Sicily and Sardinia. in the ancient city of Nicosia, Europe's last Getting there divided capital. The closest airport is Ercan in the North, One city, two cultures serviced by Turkish Airlines and Cyprus Turkish Airlines, both operating flights in The Green Line, a hodge-podge wall of and out of Turkey. Cyprus Airways, the concrete, barbed wire and sand-bagged national airline of the Republic of Cyprus, barriers, divides a compact historical core, is the major carrier flying into Larnaca and easy to navigate on foot and filled with Paphos in the South from Athens and Gothic cathedrals, Venetian-style buildings other European cities. Helios, a discount and Ottoman-era monuments and mosques. airline, also operates scheduled and Between the two sides is an unpopulated charter flights into those airports from buffer zone of overgrown weeds and Europe. The airline is the subject of an abandoned homes and businesses guarded investigation because of its recent crash by United Nations peacekeepers and Greek that killed 121 people. and Turkish Cypriot soldiers. and Turkish Cypriot soldiers. Lodging Call it a slice of Berlin on the Mediterranean. Most hotels are geared toward business The Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus, travelers. The best are in the Greek set up in the 1960s after the former British sector. An economical choice is the Sky colony gained independence, is the only Hotel, a remodeled two-star within the old government recognized internationally, but it city walls of South Nicosia. Doubles with controls just the southern two-thirds of the breakfast are $60. Information at island. www.skyhotel.ws or 011-357-226-668-80. Also in the old city is the three-star Turkish Cypriots set up their own Classic Hotel. Doubles with breakfast are government, and in 1983, the northern one- $135. Information at www.classic.com.cy third became the Turkish Republic of or 011-357-22-664-006. From both hotels, Northern Cyprus, officially recognized only it's about a 15-20 minute walk to the by Turkey. Ledra Palace border crossing into North Nicosia. Both sides warmly welcome visitors, but until recently, border crossing regulations Entry required tourists to essentially pick sides. Americans are required to have a Most Westerners chose to spend their passport to enter Cyprus. North Cyprus holidays in the wealthier and more requires visas, issued free at the borders. developed South. Until recently, visitors who entered Those rules were lifted when Cyprus entered Cyprus through the North were not the European Union last year, and for the allowed to cross into the South. Those first time in recent history, visitors can travel who arrived in the South could go to the back and forth without restrictions. North for the day, but had to be back by 5 p.m. A country broken in two New European Union-related crossing Elegant buildings with faded ochre facades regulations allow Americans and others to and curved wrought-iron balconies line now cross back and forth freely. The U.S. Lidras Street, the main pedestrian shopping State Department warns that travel street inside the Greek sector of Old Nicosia. policies are subject to change. For the latest information, see A new, modern city sprawls outward, but it's www.travel.state.gov, or contact the the compact old city, surrounded by a three- Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus at mile 16th-century Venetian wall, that attracts 202-462-5772. most visitors. More information Starbucks anchors a busy corner near shoe The Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish stores, boutiques and cafes. Another Republic of Northern Cyprus maintain pedestrian area called Laiki Yitonia is a separate tourist information offices. For miniature version of the Plaka district in information on South Nicosia, see Athens, with souvenir shops and sidewalk www.visitcyprus.org.cy or call Cyprus restaurants. Tourism at 212-683 5280. For information Walking along Lidras Street is a little like on North Nicosia, see strolling along Main Street in a small town, www.tourism.trnc.net or then suddenly finding it blocked by a www.trncwashdc.org, or call 202-887- concrete wall. 6198. The Nicosia Municipality and Cyprus While a U.N.-patrolled cease-fire line runs Tourism in the Greek sector offers free almost the entire length of the country, the walking tours in English around the Green Line cuts east and west through the southern half of the old city. Contact old city, turning Lidras and every other north- Cyprus Tourism for details. Maps for self- south street into a dead-end. guided walks in North Nicosia are Free of conflict since 1996, Cyprus today is a available at the tourist kiosk at the resort popular with sun-seeking Europeans. Kyrenia gate. Most don't visit the city that's been the capital for 1,000 years, and from a beach chair, it's hard to visualize the island as a country broken in two. In Nicosia, the reminders are everywhere. The tourist office still hands out maps that leave out the street names in the North. Whole areas are labeled "inaccessible because of Turkish occupation." At Holy Cross Cathedral, just west of Lidras Street, the rear door has been sealed off At Holy Cross Cathedral, just west of Lidras Street, the rear door has been sealed off because half the church lies within the buffer zone. A sign on a vacant lot next door reads "Uncontrolled area. No Parking." A few blocks from Starbucks, at the Lidras Street Lookout, tourists can climb a ladder and peer over a wall into the buffer zone that separates the two sides. Hope for unification From the 11th floor of the Ledra Museum-Observatory in the Shacolas Tower off Lidras, it's possible to view the entire city as it was built to be — united, rather than divided. Minarets jut from the top of the former St. Sophia Cathedral, now the Selimiye mosque, in the Turkish sector. Visible on a hillside in the North are giant side-by-side imprints of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags. An outsider can't help but be struck by the potential of replacing the abandoned buildings along the Green Line with the cultural equivalent of a footpath between Turkey and Greece. The constant sound of jackhammers and construction signals some hope. With the United Nations and European Union urging reunification of the country (Greek Cypriots last year turned down a United Nations proposal while Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of it), planners are anxious to jump-start a fledgling master plan for a unified Nicosia. Projects funded by the European Union, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations are under way to restore neighborhoods on both sides. One of the most ambitious is the Omeriye area, a South Nicosia neighborhood that was one of the city's wealthiest in medieval times. Recently restored were the Omeriye Mosque, formerly St. Marie Church, converted to a mosque in the 16th century under Ottoman rule, and the elegant Omeriye Hamam where customers can now sip tea and snack on oranges while treating themselves to steam baths and body scrubs. The red-and-white Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags flutter just a few hundred feet away on the other side of a concrete barrier, but the only legal way to cross into the North from anywhere in Cyprus is at the Ledra Palace Hotel check point, a 20-30 minute walk from the Omeriye area.