Panagia Chrysaliniotissa Church

Dedicated to Panagia Chrysaliniotissa (Our Lady of the Golden Flax), this church is believed to be the oldest Byzantine church in Lefkosia (Nicosia), and thought to have been first built in 1450 by Queen Helena Palaeologina. The church is renowned for its rich collection of old and rare icons, and the street it is located on, within the walled city of Lefkosia, was named in its honour (Chrysaliniotissa Street).

Agios Panteleimon Convent

The 18th century convent of Agios Panteleimon, with its gabled roof, is located in the Achera Valley, northwest of the Lefkosia (Nicosia) district at the village of Agrokipia.

The original old monastery complex consisted of the main church and buildings standing in the northern and eastern side, while the ground floor of the northern part of the church was divided into storage rooms, a laundry room, rooms with gyles and ovens, as well as a room where sweets were produced. There are no remains of the old church, or the original buildings of the monastery.

According to an inscription located at the west entrance of the church, it was renovated in 1770, three years after Archbishop Chrysanthos was enthroned. The iconostasis was gilded, whilst icons of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, Agios Panteleimon and Agios Nicolaos were painted at the same time by the painters Michalis Thetallos or Thesalonikeas.

The monastery played an important humanitarian role for the island during the National Liberation Struggle and the Turkish invasion of 1974. It was restored shortly after 1960, and in 1989 another annex was added to the southern part of the building. Today the monastery functions as a convent. 

Region: Lefkosia
Address: Valley of Achera, between Agrokipia and Mitsero
GPS coordinates: Lat: 35.053901 Lon: 33.139694
Contact No: Tel: +357 22 632 345
Operating Hours: Winter, daily: 06:00 – 17:00
Summer, daily: 06:00 – 19:00
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Disabled Access: Available at the monastery but not at the church.
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Church of Agios Varnavas and Ilarionas (Saints Barnabas and Hilarion)

Located in the village of Peristerona, on the west bank of Serrahis tributary river, the church dedicated to Saints Barnabas and Hilarion is thought to have been built in the 9th or 10th century. The five-domed building serves as an outstanding example of Cypriot Byzantine architecture, with part of the original church’s north wall still surviving and incorporated in the western part of the wall of the existing church. The oldest wall-painting samples belong to the 15th and 16th centuries.

Next to the church lies the Turkish mosque of Peristerona, and the image of the two side-by-side has appeared on past currency and stamps as a symbol of peaceful coexistence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots prior to the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Region: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
Address: Peristerona village, Lefkosia – Troodos Road
Contact No: Tel: +357 99 620 753
Operating Hours: Enquire at the coffee shop next door.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

 

Agios Irakleidios Convent

Irakleidios, the son of a pagan priest, was ordained Bishop of Tamasos by Saints Paul and Barnabas. He was martyred at the age of 60 and buried in the cave where he had lived, and from where he preached the Gospel. In 400 AD a church was built over his grave.

The monastery was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Today’s buildings date back to 1773 when Archbishop Chrysanthos restored the church and convent cells. The saint’s relics are kept inside the church. Today the monastery functions as a convent.

Region: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
Address: Politiko village, 21km southwest of Lefkosia
GPS coordinates: Lat: 35.025445 Lon: 33.24353
Contact No: Tel: +357 22 623 950, Fax: +357 22 624 176
Operating Hours: Monday – Friday: 08:00 – 12:30 / 15:30 – 18:00
Weekends: 06:00 – 18:00
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

St. Paul’s Anglican Church

The church of St. Paul was built in 1893 when Cyprus was a protectorate of the British Empire. The influence of politics on architecture is evident by the structural elements of the building, which is reminiscent of an English parish church. The Christian church today is part of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.

Region: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
Address: Leoforos Vyronos
GPS coordinates: Lat: 35.169675 Lon: 33.354655
Contact No: Tel: +357 22 677 897, Tel/Fax: +357 22 445 221 (office)
Website: www.st-pauls-nicosia.com
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Archangelos Michael Trypiotis Church

Built by Archbishop Germanos II in 1695, the Church of Archangelos Michael Trypiotis in old Lefkosia (Nicosia) is an excellent example of Franco-Byzantine style architecture, with three naves and a dome that almost has the aspect of a square.

Built with attractive, smoothed calcarenite stone that holds a rich interior, the church contains an outstanding icon influenced by an Italian painting of the 15th century, and other silver icons from the period of Ottoman Rule, as well as possessing an unusually wide iconostasis.

According to an inscription to the east of the south entrance, the church was built at the expense of the Priest Iakovos and Christian parishioners in 1695 during Ottoman Rule.

 

The Medieval Walls of Lefkosia (Nicosia)

The Medieval Walls that still surround the old city of Lefkosia (Nicosia) were built by the Venetians in the 16th century. Forming a circle, the walls are fortified by eleven heart-shaped bastions and protected by an 80-metre wide moat. They were built of mud brick, with only the lower part buttressed by stone. When the Ottomans occupied Lefkosia, they repaired the walls and covered the upper part with stones.

The original walls were built in the 14th century by the Franks and enclosed a much larger area. When the Venetians occupied Cyprus, they decided to demolish the Frankish walls as their old age meant that they did not offer adequate defences against new weapons of the time, such as artillery. The Frankish walls were also too big to be manned by the Venetian army, and too close to the hills in the east and southeast of the city.

Today, the moat around the walls has many different uses – as  sports fields, public gardens, an open-air sculpture exhibition, car park, and other uses.

GPS coordinates: Lat: 35.16852 Lon: 33.36568

The House of Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios / Ethnological Museum

This manor house is one of the most important surviving 18th century buildings in Lefkosia and was restored by the Department of Antiquities to house the Cyprus Ethnological Museum, receiving the ‘Europa Nostra’ award in 1988.

The two-storey building was built in 1793 with local bloc-cut sandstone and was once the residence of the most prominent Dragoman of Cyprus, Hatzigeorgakis Kornesios, who was executed by the Ottomans in 1809.

The architectural plan of the building in the shape of the Greek letter Pi surrounds a central garden with a fountain and a private bathhouse (hamam), which is comprised of three rooms. The servants’ quarters and the kitchen were situated on the ground floor, roofed wooden stairs with a stone base lead to the entrance hall on the first floor from the courtyard, and the official reception room and the living areas, communicated with the reception hall. The official reception room – at the end of the east wing – differs from the the other rooms due to its exceptional wood carved, gilded and painted decoration, which liken it to other official reception rooms in many mansions of the Ottoman Empire.

The office of Dragoman was introduced in Cyprus at the start of the Ottoman rule and was abolished in 1821 with the Greek War of Independence. Dragomans acted as liaisons between the Pasha (high ranking military officials) and the occupied population and were the most important political figures after the Pasha.

Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Mansion – Audio Guide 

Region: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
Address: Patriarchou Gregoriou, 20
Contact No: Tel: +357 22 305 316
Operating Hours: Tuesday – Friday: 08:30 – 15:30
Saturday: 09:30 – 16:30
Closed on Monday and Sunday.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance: FREE
Website: www.mcw.gov.cy/da
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.

 

The Archontiko of Axiothea

The Archontiko (Mansion) of Axiothea, located in the old town of Lefkosia (Nicosia), is one of the most characteristic examples of urban architecture of the 18th century.

The two-storey building was built in the shape of the Greek letter ‘pi’ (Π), with a north-south orientation, and originally occupied a much larger area. The main entrance is located on the east side of the house, which leads to the inner courtyard. On the west and south side is a portico defined by a row of arches that separates the courtyard from the rooms that surround it. There are three big halls, two smaller rooms and two auxiliary rooms on the ground floor, with three more halls and two smaller rooms on the upper floor.

Today, the mansion serves as a centre for cultural activities, exhibitions and literary seminars for the University of Cyprus.

Region: Lefkosia
Address: Axiotheas Street 9
Contact No: Tel: +357 22 894 532, Fax: +357 22 434 808
Operating Hours: Monday – Friday: 08:30 – 14:30
Thursday: 15:00 – 18:00 (except July – August)
Closed on weekends.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.
 

Famagusta Gate (Pyli Ammochostou)

Famagusta Gate (Pyli Ammochostou) is the largest of the three entrances into old Lefkosia through the Venetian walls that completely encircled the old city, and were designed by famous engineer Giulio Savorgnano in 1567.

Originally known as ‘Porta Giuliana’ – the eastern gate of the walls – it was later renamed ‘Famagusta Gate’ as the gate opened onto the road that led to the most important harbour town of the island at the time, that of Famagusta.

Famagusta Gate has since been restored and the Nicosia Municipal Multicultural Centre now operates within the large vaulted passage and its two adjacent rooms. The internal entrance is very impressive, whilst the external one opens onto the moat that surrounds the walls.

Region: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
Address: Leoforos Athinon
GPS coordinates: Lat: 35.174328 Lon: 33.37106
Contact No: Tel: + 357 22 797 660, Fax: +357 22 430 703
Operating Hours: October – April, Monday – Friday: 10:00 – 13:00 / 16:00 – 19:00
May – September, Monday – Friday: 10:00 – 13:00 / 17:00 – 20:00
Closed on weekends.
Operating Period: All year round.
Closed on Public Holidays.
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.nicosia.org.cy/en-GB/home/
  Opening and closing times as well as entrance fees, are subject to alterations without notice. Visitors are advised to check before visiting.