North Cyprus / Nicosia

The capital city Lefkoşa which, over the course of its history, has also been known as Ledra, Lidra and Kermia, is surrounded by 4.5 km of city walls furnished with eleven bastions and three city gates. Points of interest for a visit to Lefkoşa include the Girne Gate (Porta Del Proveditore), one of the three gates which provides access through the historic city walls of Lefkoşa, the Mevlevi Tekke (Dervish Convent) from the 16th century, one of the most important sites associated with the Mevlevi sect in Cyprus, the Venetian Column-Obelisk (Dikilitaş), and the 16th century 68-room Great Khan (Büyük Han) dating from the Ottoman period which now hosts the Cyprus Handicrafts and Cultural Centre. The St. Sophia Cathedral (the Selimiye Mosque), constructed during the Lusignan period between 1208 and 1326, is one of the most important examples of Gothic architecture. Other locations worth seeing within the city walls of Lefkoşa are; the Kumarcılar Khan, Bedestan (the Church of St. Nicholas), the Lapidary Museum.  Arabahmet Mosque, the Bandabuliya (the Covered Bazaar),  which opened in 1932 and the Arasta Market, the Armenian Church (St. Mary of Tartosa), the Great Hamam (Turkish Bath), the buildings of the British Colonial period, the Samanbahçe Houses, the Arabahmet district, the Cumbalı houses, the Library of Sultan Mahmut II, St Catherine’s Church (Haydarpaşa Mosque), the Church of St. Lucas, Saçaklı Ev (the Eaved House), the Lusignan House, and the 19th century Derviş Paşa Mansion, home of an exhibition of ethnographic works of the recent past.