Nicosia: Last Divided City, Tour combining South & North

Cyprus’ best-preserved example of Ottoman caravanserai architecture. The Han was built to provide accommodation for travelers from Anatolia and other parts of Cyprus. Today the Great Inn has been revived as a thriving arts center, consisting of several galleries and workshops, and has once again become the hub of North Lefkosia's Old City bustle. Folklore dance shows, piano recitals, and drama displays are also common nowadays within the walls, and this attraction is a must-see when visiting Nicosia.

We shall explore the most prominent landmark in Lefkoisa, the Selimiye Mosque, a cross between a French Gothic church and a mosque, its fascinating history stretches back to the 13th century. Selimiye Mosque historically known as the Cathedral of Saint Sophia is a former Roman Catholic cathedral converted into a mosque.

It is the the largest surviving historical building in Lefkosia, sources claim it “may have been the largest church built in the Eastern Mediterranean in the millennium between the rise of Islam and the late Ottoman period.”

You will see the Venetian walls and how they form a border around the Old City. They are so unusual that once seen on a map, they will never be forgotten as a design synonymous with the unique shape of this ancient fortification.

You shall witness one of the three gates in the Venetian walls that encircles the old city of Lefkosia, providing access to the city from the north.

For over a thousand years, Lefkosia was a walled city, from the Lusignans through to the Ottomans. During the Renaissance era, the Venetians reconstructed great walls around the capital threatened by an impending Ottoman Empire.

The Kumarcilar Han also called the Gambler’s Inn,it is also known as a caravanserai.
Built around the end of the 17th century, it is much smaller and modest when compared with Büyük Han, but nonetheless typical of an Ottoman inner-city commercial inn.
A monumental carved gate at the entrance dates to before the Ottoman conquest, and experts believe that the structure stands on a much earlier building, possibly the ruins of a monastery.

This Han has been fully restored today and is used as an attraction with arts and craft shops.

We shall walk around the Bedesten, one of the most important historical buildings in Lefkosia, reflecting the multicultural life and diverse past of the city.
The Bedesten has a long history spanning more than one thousand years. Originally built as a church in about the 6th century, it was expanded and rebuilt between the 12th and 16th centuries and converted to a covered market during the period of Ottoman rule.