Nicosia

Nicosia lies at the heart of Cyprus, inland on the island's central plain. Under the Lusignan kings it became the capital of their kingdom and the seat of the Latin archbishop. Their Gothic cathedral of Saint Sophia rose above a city of palaces, churches and markets. Around it, the fertile plain supplied a royal and ecclesiastical centre distinct from the island's maritime ports. Its inland situation also placed the court at the centre of the kingdom it ruled.

Venice took control of Cyprus in 1489 and governed the island from Nicosia. As Ottoman attack threatened, Venetian engineers replaced the older defences with a compact circuit of walls. Eleven projecting bastions gave the new fortifications their distinctive star-shaped plan, designed for an age of artillery. The walls were barely complete when the Ottoman army landed in 1570. After a siege of several weeks, the city fell in September; Saint Sophia became a mosque and minarets were added to the Gothic structure.

Nicosia remained the island's administrative centre under Ottoman rule, while Greek Orthodox and Muslim institutions shaped its life. In 1821, after the outbreak of the Greek revolt, Archbishop Kyprianos and other bishops and prominent Greek Cypriots were executed in the city. The events left a deep mark on the community and on the history of the capital.