Shown below are just two of the many ancient churches that we saw in Old Nicosia. According to the tour guide, Christianity became a part of the island when the Apostle Paul visited Cyprus, as is noted in the book of Acts in the Bible. Christianity became the official religion of Cyprus when the Byzantine Empire had control of the island. The first church that you see was actually made during a time of Ottoman Turkish rule. When the Turkish took over, many of the old churches had been destroyed or converted into mosques. However, in this area, the locals had somehow convinced the government to let them build a church. According to our guide, they used a hodge-podge of materials. Many of the stones and bricks came from debris from other destroyed churches. It was common in this time to incorporate a dome in the architecture of the churches as you can see to the top right.
The photo directly above was of another church that we got to see. The bell tower was being renovated so that was a little difficult to see clearly. However, the church was magnificent. I wish I could recall everything the tour guide had to say about this specific church, but we were flooded with a lot of information very quickly so I don't recall probably 90% of it, though I listened as intently as I could. I posted this picture so you guys could see another example of what these churches, from just after Christ's life, look like.
The insides of these churches were in many ways even more magnificent. They were decorated with religious icons and paintings that depicted Jesus, Mary, and various Bible stories. Photographs were not permitted inside these churches so I wanted to respect these rules and as a result I did not get any photographs of the inside of the churches. Most of them, remarkably, still have services today! In one of the churches we stepped into, there was oil that would have been used for a baptism still open. These churches were quite special areas and really remarkable works of art.
Shown below is a picture of the Turkish-Greek Cypriot border. The Turkish controlled part of the island is in the North and is predominantly Muslim. There is a buffer zone in between what is known as the "Green Line" that lies largely unused and uninhabited. Military patrols guard the border and there are only a handful of places where crossing the border is permitted. I had to zoom in from about a block away using my phone camera because photos of the border are not allowed. It was quite eerie to see these classic buildings left unmaintained and unused as a result of this ages old conflict. The two large structures shown are minarets of a grand mosque. According to our tour guide, these were built on top of a cathedral that was built in the time of the crusades after the Turkish took over Cyprus.
We walked right up to the border and the soldiers from the Turkish army watched us closely. Our tour guide spoke some sort of greeting in Turkish to the soldiers and they seemed friendly enough to her. We walked along the Green Line for a little while and observed the tall barricades and military outposts at every part of the border.
Near the border was the site of an excavation of medieval Nicosia. The Greek Cypriots had planned to put a town hall here but during the construction they found these ancient ruins instead! The building project was halted and excavation of the site is still in motion.
This about concludes what I remember of the tour at the moment, but I may post more about it later if I recall any more details. As I said before, it would take years to truly understand and know this place. I am very thankful for the tour guide we had as she knew everything and anything about these places. It was a long, but adventurous, walking tour of the old city and we probably walked 5 miles or so through the narrow streets. It was extremely interesting and I hope to go back on my own time during some free time on this trip to explore some more!
-Julia
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