City Go

The Folk Art Museum is located in the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation compound, next to the Byzantine Museum and St. John's Cathedral.  It was founded in 1937 and is maintained by a group of volunteers. In 1964 it moved to the premises of the old Archbishopric Palace, after the Archbishop of Cyprus moved to the new palace, so the building alone is worth the visit. It dates back to the 15th century and was built in the gothic style, on top of a benedictine monastery. The Greek orthodox church started using the building sometime before the Ottoman occupation. The Ethnographic museum presents a collection of 19th and early 20th centuries folk art- embroidery, lace, costumes, pottery, metalwork, basketry, folk painting, leather work and woodcarving. For €2 it's definitely worth the visit. Opening hours : Mon.-Fri. 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (1 p.m. on Sat.) Entrance fee : €2

Ledra Street used to be the main commercial street in Cyprus but has been superseded by more accessible streets further south. Nevertheless, properties in this street are still largely destined for commercial use. It runs in a South to North direction and is about 1 km long, lying both in the Republic of Cyprus and in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In 1963, following the outbreak of hostilities between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Ledra Street was one of the streets to be blockaded, thus dividing the city in two, and was effectively sealed after the Turkish army invasion of Cyprus in 1974. It was only reopened in 2008, becoming the sixth crossing between the southern and northern parts of Cyprus. Bring your passport if you want to cross to either side. The name of the street refers to the city-kingdom of Ledra, founded in 1050 BC, located where the city of Nicosia is today.

The Shacolas Tower is a building completed in the 1990s and one of the tallest buildings in Cyprus. The Museum and Observatory , on the 11th floor, allow for a 360º overview of the city of Nicosia. There are maps of the city with short descriptions of what is being seen. Opening hours : 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (6 p.m. May. to Nov.) Entrance fee : €2

The Byzantine Museum in Nicosia contains the richest and most representative collection of Byzantine art in the island, about 230 icons dating from the 9th to the 19th centuries and other typical examples of the byzantine art of Cyprus, such as sacred vessels, vestments and books. The museum is located on the grounds of St. John's cathedral, in the Archbishop Makarios III foundation compound. Photos are not allowed, even without the flashlight. Opening hours: Mon.- Fri. 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. (1 p.m. Sat.) Entrance Fee: €4

Cyprus Museum is the oldest and largest Museum in Cyprus and resulted from a petition made by Cypriots to the British Administration, to stop illegal excavation and smuggling of antiquities off the island. Opening hours : Tuesday - Friday: 8.00 - 18.00 Saturday: 9.00 - 17.00  Sunday: 10.00 - 13.00 Monday: closed Ticket (standard) : €4.50

Nicosia, known as Lefkosia to Cypriots, is the capital and seat of government of Cyprus. It has been continuously inhabited for 4500 years and has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century. Around 1050 BC it became a city-state known as Ledra, which later became an important Hellenistic and Roman city known as Lefkosia. It was the Lusignan dynasty that named the city Nicosia, as they were incapable (or unwilling) of pronouncing Lefkosia. In the 1960s, following the violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots,  the city was divided into the capital of Greek Cyprus and the capital of Turkish Cyprus. In 1974 an attempted coup d'etat led by the Greek military junta to unite the island with Greece lead to an actual separation of North and South. In 2008, following lengthy negotiations and as part of the efforts to reunite the island, a crossing was opened in Ledra Street. Hence, Nicosia has the peculiarity of having a border in its main commercial street; howe...