© Lonely Planet Publications 64 A) A) Ş Lefkosia Λευκωσία LEFKOSIA (LEFKO (Lefkoşa) If you get tired of the coast’s lazy, beach-bum lifestyle, and even if you don’t, make sure you spend some time in the country’s capital, known officially (and to Greek speakers) as Lefkosia. The city has been labelled with the beaten cliché of ‘the last divided capital’, a reality that, although still present, is slowly changing thanks to 24-hour checkpoint crossings into its northern half. This is especially so with the recently opened Ledra St crossing, which allows pedestrians to hop back and forth between the two parts of town. Lefkosia (population 213,500) is an attractive, enticing city and the country’s cultural heart; it’s ideal for experiencing what modern Cyprus is all about. The ancient walls, glitzy bars, traditional eateries and a growing multicultural core showcase the city’s – and the country’s – basic make-up. The country’s best museum is here, with an extensive archaeological col- lection. The Old City’s narrow streets are a labyrinth, teeming during the day and ghostly at night, hiding churches, mosques, arty bars and beautiful, often dilapidated colonial houses. Lefkosia’s high summer temperatures are both a curse and a blessing; the heat is tough, but it rescues Lefkosia from the package-tourist hordes. The city is split almost evenly between the Republican South and the Turkish-occupied North: modern (Greek) Lefkosia and traditional (Turkish) North Nicosia (Lefkoşa). As a whole the capital reflects the story of Cyprus: its two people, divided, are glancing at a future that might bring reunification. With crossing to and fro made easier, it’s possible to see and feel Lefkosia as one city, though it may still be years until it’s truly that way. HIGHLIGHTS Explore the emblematic and fantastically preserved Venetian walls ( p68 ) snaking the Old City See both sides of Europe’s last divided capi- tal by going North at the new and pedes- trian Ledra Street crossing ( p71 ) Venetian Ledra Street Walls Crossing Delve into the country’s best ancient history Egeon collection at the Cyprus Museum ( p71 ) Spend a day pampering yourself at the Omeriye Hammam delightfully stylish and affordable Omeriye Cyprus Hammam ( p73 ) Museum Have the best meze in town at Egeon ( p78 ), a real Lefkosia institution lonelyplanet.com LEFKOSIA (LEFKOŞA) •• History 65 (LEFKO LEFKOSIA LEFKOSIA IN… Ş Two Days A) Start your day with breakfast at the Double Six Coffee Bar ( p79 ), then pop into Faneromeni Church ( p72 ). Take a couple of hours to explore the Venetian walls ( p68 ), the city’s guardians for centuries, and go to Famagusta Gate ( p70 ), where concerts and other events are often held. Spend some time simply wandering around the streets of the Old City and checking out the old colonial houses, now falling into decay. Trace the Green Line and have lunch at Shiantris ( p77 ), where you can have a real Cypriot meal alongside the city’s working folk. After lunch, go to the Cyprus Museum ( p71 ), where the oldest artefact dates back to 8000 BC. Prepare to eat some of the finest meze on the island at Egeon ( p78 ), and have some drinks at Hammam ( p80 ). On day two, visit the extravagant House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios ( p73 ) and the Arch- bishop’s Palace ( p73 ). In the afternoon, have a luxurious Turkish bath at the Omeriye Hammam ( p73 ). Dine at the Syrian Arab Friendship Club ( p79 ) and check out the bars on trendy Leoforos Arhiepiskopou Makariou III (Makarios Ave). Four Days Follow the two-day itinerary, then on your third day visit North Nicosia (Lefkoşa; p178 ) for the day. On the fourth day visit the Lefkosia Arts Centre & Library ( p74 ) and then relax in the leafy municipal gardens ( p76 ). Drink at Oktana ( p80 ) or puff on a nargileh (Middle Eastern water pipe) at Uqbar ( p80 ), among Lefkosia’s best drinking spots. HISTORY ingly weary eyes of UN peacekeeping forces. Established in the middle of the wide In 2003, crossing the Green Line was made Mesaoria plain on the Pedieos River for de- possible for ordinary citizens, resulting in a fence purposes, Lefkosia has always been number of Turkish Cypriots going to work the country’s capital. The city was originally in the southern side of the capital. The Greek known as Ledra, the name kept by one of its Cypriots, in turn, peruse the north’s numer- major streets, and grew extensively during ous casinos. Furthermore, the opening of the the Byzantine period. The Venetians, who Ledra St pedestrian crossing in April 2008 briefly held Lefkosia from 1489, built the has facilitated easier access from one side to stone defensive walls around the city. But the other. these did little to keep the Ottomans out in 1570. Life in Lefkosia under the Ottomans saw ORIENTATION little growth, and only when the British took The most interesting part of the city for visi- control in 1878 did the city begin to spread tors is the Old City, inside the 16th-century beyond its walls. Venetian walls. The town centre is Plateia Violence inspired by the Ethniki Organosi Eleftherias on the southwestern edge of the tou Kypriakou Agona (EOKA; National walls. Fireworks are held here on New Year’s Organisation for the Cypriot Struggle) against Eve. Famagusta Gate is near the Caraffa the British in the 1950s and then the Turkish Bastion to the east. At the base of the walls Cypriots in the ’60s saw considerable carnage there are car parks and municipal gardens. on the streets of Lefkosia. Intercommunal The New City sprawls outwards south disturbances between Greek and Turkish of the Venetian walls, and its main artery Cypriots in 1963 brought a de facto parti- is the modern Leoforos Arhiepiskopou tion of the city. The so-called ‘Green Line’ Makariou III (Makarios Ave), where doz- came into being at this time when the British ens of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops military defined the Greek and Turkish areas attract Lefkosians. using a green pen on a military map. The Apart from the Ledra St crossover point, name has stuck to this day. there is another, the Ledra Palace Hotel, at The Turkish invasion of 1974 finally di- the far west of the Old City; both are pedes- vided the city and it has remained so ever trian-only. Agios Dometios, northwest of the since, chaperoned by the watchful but increas- New City and west of the Old, is the car-only .