History of Nicosia

History of Nicosia - History and Travel Guide - Green Paradise North Cyprus Properties

This is one of the few island capitals which not only is situated inland but is served by no navigable river. In fact, Nicosia's watercourse, the Pedieos river, dries up in the summer months, and strangely, it is this factor which has contributed to the city's establishment as die capital of an island which has very vulnerable coasts. Similarly, because the coastal towns were exposed to depredations from abroad, notably by the Arab pirates of the seventh century A.D., some of these were moved inland to a position of greater strength, and villages and fishing harbours on the coasts remain scarce. To judge by the large number of tombs in the vicinity of Nicosia, this was a populous region from the Bronze Age to the days of Roman occupation, though the city itself did not play a very important part in the island's history until the Lusignan era. However, it is thought that ancient Ledra, the city-state founded in 280 B.C. by Lefcon, son of Ptolemy Soter, was situated identically with the fortified city as it is known today. At any rate this is a popular belief, and the main shopping street of the old city is known as Ledra Street.

A traveller in 1211 records that 'Cossia' had no fortifications, but that a castle had recently been built to house the rulers of the kingdom. He was very much impressed by the wealth of the citizens, and compared the luxury of their houses with those of fabulous Antioch - the highest standard of the times. The prosperity of Nicosia appears to have lasted until 1426, when the Egyptian Mamelukes invaded the island at Limassol. They defeated King Janus, took him prisoner, burned and plundered his royal palace at Nicosia, and sacked the remainder of the town. By the time the island was annexed by the Venetians in 1489, the boundaries of the city had extended considerably. Then, in view of the likelihood indeed, the certainty of attack by the Turks, the Venetian engineer in charge of fortifications recommended in 1567 that the circumference of the city should be reduced by three miles. This resulted in a regular circular plan with eleven bastions and three gates, much as it is today, the main difference being that in places the height of the walls has now been reduced and part of the moat filled in. The massive new defences were constructed in accordance with the technique adopted by the Venetians at this turning-point of strategical defence, when the aim was to withstand bombardment from the newly invented cannon. The walls consisted of vast earthworks faced with stone. The Venetian engineers were ruthless. Any building outside their defensive line had to be levelled for fear it should obstruct the field of fire. Thus vanished many of the splendid manifestations of Lusignan wealth and taste, the greatest loss probably being the Abbey of St Domenico, in which the sovereigns and aristocracy of Cyprus had been buried in splendour. The site of this great monument to a glorious era, which was near the Paphos Gate, is now lost beyond all hope of reclamation. Despite desperate resistance and the strength of the newest defences, Nicosia was reduced in seven weeks after the first Turkish assault in 1570. Unbelievable atrocities and wholesale massacre followed. Venetians and Cypriots suffered alike. The rapacious and cumulative rule of terror lasted just over three hundred years, until the signing of a defensive alliance with Great Britain in 1878. In that year Vice-Admiral Lord Hope landed at Larnaca and raised the Union Jack in Nicosia. Now the city is expanding again; new hotels, blocks of flats, offices, restaurants, factories, gardens continue to spread outward to the south, east and west.

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