Holiday in Cyprus (5): Northern Nicosia
On the third day of the northern part of our Cyprus trip (Thursday), we drove to the capital which is just half an hour away. Known as Lefkosia in Greek and Lefkoşa in Turkish, the name given to the city by the English is Nicosia. Since the Turkish invasion of 1974, it has been the only divided capital in the world and this morning we visited the northern part which is smaller and less developed than the southern portion.
First stop was the Whirling Dervishes Museum located in a one-time monastery dating back to the 17th century. Really the museum is an explanation of the Sufi mysticism belief system behind the dance which is designed to induce a trance-like state. I saw a performance of the dance itself by whirling dervishes in Aleppo during a trip to Syria in 2003, a couple of weeks before the terrible civil war broke out, and it is a mesmerising experience.
Strolling through the Old City Square with its Venetian Column, we made our second stop at the St Sophia Cathedral which in 1570 ceased to be a Catholic place of worship when the new island occupiers the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. Since the orientation of a mosque provides for worshippers to face the direction of Mecca, the carpet is laid diagonally to the floor plan of the original church.
Then came some shopping. Our guide asked: “Is there any special shop that you want us to go to?” One of the male members of our group quipped in reply: “The one that is closed.” But we visited a decent souvenir shop before looking around the Bedestan which is the covered bazaar housing establishments selling not just the usual clothes and foods but everything from old vinyl records to multiple versions of Turkish delight.
Finally we had a refreshment stop at a wonderful former caravanserai called Buyuk Han which dates back to 1572. Inside a beautiful courtyard, I had fresh lemonade and almond rolls. Before we left northern Nicosia, we went to observe a pedestrian border crossing into southern Nicosia, located on the Green Line, so called because – when the demarcation of the communities was agreed – a British official marked the line on a map with his green felt pen.
After three evenings with dinners in our hotel, this evening – our last in the north of Cyprus – we were taken into Kyrenia to have dinner by the harbour at the Chimera restaurant where we had lunch on Tuesday. For the third time in four days, a member of the combined British group of eight had a birthday, so we drank sparkling wine and ate a special cake to celebrate. Afterwards we chose to stay at the restaurant, sitting outside to view the England versus Belgium World Cup football match (we lost 0-1).
As family and friends will know, generally my enthusiasm for football is on a par with that for dentistry and my total knowledge of the sport could be fitted on the back of a postage stamp, but my fellow travellers were all both massively excited and hugely knowledgeable and I like to have new experiences on holiday, so I too spent the rest of the evening cheering on our lads into the next round of the competition.
June 29th, 2018 at 2:12 am
Com’on Roger, it is the World Cup, England is one of the favorite.Italia did not make it, first time in 60 years. and yet, Italian newspapers carry the games on top page, first piece of news
Cheerio
Augusto
June 29th, 2018 at 8:23 pm
OK, Augusto, I’m trying to be enthusiastic.