Nicosia – The last divided capital

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Nicosia not just any capital of a small island nation, but the world’s only still-divided capital.

We gladly sacrifice one pool day of our short holiday *in our beach hotel in Cyprus to head inland, to the capital city Nicosia.
It’s not just any capital of a small island nation, but the world’s only still-divided capital.

Nicosia – the last divided capital city in the world, is shared by Northern Cyprus i.e. the Turkish side, and the Southern i.e. the Greek side of Cyprus, the Republic of Cyprus.
The latter one is part of the European Union, and the first one has long been occupied by Türkiye.
Crossing the border as a traveler is possible, but not always easy.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into its history and streets, alleys, also allies.
It’s a morning in Ayia Napa when we jump on the bus along the main road.

If you prefer to read in Finnish, continue here / Jos luet mieluummin suomeksi, jatka tänne:
Jaettu kaupunki Nikosia – ruokaa ja rajamuodollisuuksia

Nicosia – the last divided capital offers great food and border formalities

We made this trip during COVID regularities in August 2021.

When a tourist comes to Cyprus one practically always travels to the Republic of Cyprus, i.e. the Greek side of the island. It’s part of the European Union and it’s led by the State of Cyprus.
Almost all tourist destinations are located there. Also, most international flights arrive in the Republic of Cyprus. 

That’s where we also traveled to, from Belgrade to Larnaca airport. From the airport we continued by bus to the beach destination of Ayia Napa, well favored by tourists.
Close to it is once famous Famagusta, a popular tourist destination still in the 1960s. Then came extreme nationalism and, as usual, ruined everything.

Nicosia – a divided city of cafes

We start to navigate from Nicosia bus station towards the old town. We stay in the city only for the day, so we’re trying to be efficient in seeing the city.

In Ayia Napa, masks are not required outdoors. Of course, most of the people there are tourists who had no entry to the country without a full set of vaccinations or a PCR test. In Nicosia, on the other hand, the rule is followed strictly and people wear masks also on the street.
Why am I telling you this is 2024? – Keep reading.

The nerve channel of the old town is the narrow pedestrian street called Ledras. Nowadays it leads directly through the Greek side to the border crossing on the Green Line.

We investigate the facilities of the street and decide that we’ll visit one of the numerous nice-looking cafes. First, however, we’ll visit the northern part of the city, i.e. the Turkish side.

Nationalism led to the division of Cyprus

The Greek-speaking population has lived on the island for 3,000 years, but the population of Turkish origin arrived on the island also as early as the 16th century, after the Ottoman conquest.
Both ethnic groups lived a relatively peaceful coexistence for centuries. (From now on, I will use the forms Greek and Turkish for Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations respectively.)

However, the ethnic tensions of the island, which was taken over by the British, began to grow in the last century. They led to continuous violent clashes after World War II, which continued after the country’s independence from Britain in 1960.

The Greek Cypriot terrorist organization EOKA pushed for Enosis, the annexation of the country to Greece, which of course was a horrifying idea to the Turkish minority.

The Green Line

The situation got so bad that UN peacekeepers were sent to Cyprus. In the 1974 Cyprus crisis, the Greek military junta supported a coup in which EOKA took power. It led to the Turkish military landing in Northern Cyprus, initially commonly approved by the international community.

The usurpers gave up and as a result, the Greek junta fell as well. Türkiye occupied the northern part of the island and the occupation continues, despite it’s commonly condemned by the international community.

After the 1963 unrest, Nicosia was already divided in two by the so-called Green Line, created and monitored by the UN. It still divides the city and the whole country. The Turkish side covers about a third of the island.

The northern side of Nicosia is currently controlled by the so-called Republic of Northern Cyprus, supported by Türkiye and recognized only by it. The south side is considered the capital of the Greeks’ Republic of Cyprus, which is a member of the EU.

The once popular beach resort town of Famagusta remained on the Turkish side and is practically a ghost town today.

Crossing the border of divided Nicosia is difficult

The border crossing area begins with a wooden tunnel above which a sign announces that we are entering the “Republic of Northern Cyprus”. The actual “border stations” are waiting at the other end of the tunnel.

There stand some unlucky tourists, whose attempt to cross the border to the Turkish side has been forbidden for one reason or another.
This border is famous for rejecting visitors from the other side of the island.
It’s our time to try.

It’s not only about the national passport

The Greek border guard beckons us forward and we get to the counter of the Turkish border station without queuing. In addition to passports, we have Cyprus’ Covid passports ready.
There are two female and one male border guard behind the counter. The man has two stripes on his shoulders, so he’s the boss here. We show our passports and paper printouts of the Cyprus Covid passport.

It’s not valid. “We are not the Republic of Cyprus, so we are not interested in Greek Cypriot permits to enter the country,” state border guards.

Okay, wait a moment. We also have Serbian coronavirus passports on our phones and proof of double vaccinations taken in Serbia. (We lived in Belgrade at the time.)

The female clerks become alert. Of course, Serbian certificates are valid! (They are also in Türkyie.)
But their male colleague is adamant that they aren’t valid either. Let’s just turn those tourists back to where they came from.

We supposed that the money of travelers who were proven to be vaccinated during the coronavirus era would be welcomed here as well. But of course, the underofficer is not the tourism officer, but the all-powerful border bureaucrat.

Except he isn’t. The women overrun him and welcome us to enter the Turkish side. The man is so humiliated that he doesn’t even look at us anymore.
We are not interested, hey hey, we’re crossing the border to your side right now!

Visiting North Nicosia is like going to a Turkish bazaar

After crossing the border the eagerness of the border guard to turn travelers away is even more astonishing. The Turkish quarters right after the Green Line is like a bazaar, now only without customers. Merchants sell their products, but not intrusively, though there is a shocking lack of buyers.

We feel sad for them, even though the products are no different, for better or worse, from any bazaar in mainland Türkiye. The leather is undoubtedly genuine, cheap t-shirts on the other hand are probably almost disposable and bargaining is almost mandatory.
However, we do not enter into a transaction as we have no need for anything offered.

We walk around for a while, but this side of town doesn’t impress us. We visit quickly the market hall established in 1932 which is quiet too. There are a few local customers and men are playing backgammon by one of the entrances, as has probably been done since 1932.

A hundred-year-old textile store

While walking back towards the border crossing, we stop in front of one shop. There are woolen and linen scarves and cloths on racks outside, in colors (black and white) and prices to our taste. Would there be a new hand towel for the bathroom?

The owner of the shop, a young man, comes out and asks to come inside to see other models. Why not.
He is not pushy at all, quite the opposite, and very helpful.

Inside the store there are textiles on the numerous shelves from the floor to the roof, and it has been like this for quite a long time.
The owner says that the business has been in the family for about a hundred years. He shows an old account book with entries ending in 1956. All entries are in Arabic, one of the languages still spoken in Cyprus.

Once the customers were both Greeks and Turks, but when the unrest escalated and eventually led to the division of Nicosia, the Greeks left.
Foreign tourists replaced them, but their visits were interrupted by the pandemic and the recovery of tourist flows seems to be slow. And it’s no wonder if you aren’t allowed to get through the border control even with valid documents.

…gets our money

We’d like to buy something here, but we don’t do shopping for pity. It’s not possible with our income level, and we don’t want unnecessary stuff lying around in corners.

Fortunately, the selection includes new towels for both the bathroom and the kitchen, and a multipurpose beach towel that will be tested already during this holiday.
The owner willingly presents different pattern options and gives his contact information. He mentions that all the products can be delivered home to foreign countries.

We cross the Green Line back to the Republic side. The Greek border guard calls us from his booth. “Excuse me, do you import cigarettes? No? Fine, nothing then!” He waves from the booth and the customs formalities have been taken care of.

So we’ve considered having a coffee, but the time has passed surprisingly quickly and according to our stomachs, it’s already lunchtime. We leave Ledra for the parallel Onasagorou street.
A wide corridor runs through the house between it and Ledra, along which there are two restaurants. We enter Evroulla, located on the Onasagorou side.

A local eatery is a must-try

In case you wonder where to eat in Nicosia and especially want to try something local, choose this eatery.
Evroulla is a simple lunch restaurant for the neighborhood’s workers. It opens for them at noon.
We arrive there at two o’clock and the place is still buzzing with people. A busy waiter runs past us and shouts that there might be a table for two free in a bit.

This is what happens. Instead of the tables along the corridor, we are directed to a large side room. There’s a just vacated table by the window. It’s 35 degrees outside in August, so the window is open. The waiter brings the menus to the table and quickly explains that permanent lunch options are listed at the beginning and choices of the day at the end.

We check the list, trying to find out what its meals contain. Bread and side dishes such as butter and pepperoni are brought to the table to help our decision.

Heavenly Cypriot food

We end up ordering lemon-flavored chicken with orzo pasta for Tanja, and sheftalia for Ismo, i.e. breaded herb-flavored mincemeat rolls. In addition, we take yogurts and lemon juice to drink.

Actually, we thought we were ordering ayran, yogurt seasoned with salt and extended with water, which is an excellent drink in hot climates. Instead, we get genuine Greek-style yogurt.
Lemon juice surprises us living in Serbia as well. It is sweetened here, which the Serbian version never is unless you specifically ask for it.

The food is heavenly good, the portions are sufficient even for super hungry and the atmosphere of the place is excellent. In local eateries like this one should always eat lunch, almost in any part of the world.

The main dishes cost around five euros per portion and the whole set is just under twenty. The waiter speaks excellent English and is very helpful and patient.

When we pay the bill, it turns out that it’s not only the hungry workers in the neighborhood and we who have noticed the finess of the place.
The waiter shows the framed New York Times article about the restaurant hanging on the wall. He also introduces us to the owner lady of the restaurant, who delightfully greets us behind the counter.

Our waiter also asks to praise Evroulla on TripAdvisor and to mention him with the following description: “Two meters tall, blue-eyed and smart man, the best waiter in Cyprus.” We do not disagree.

Shops in Nicosia close in the afternoon

On top of the lunch, we want coffee in one of the cafes we’ve seen around. Upon closer look, most of them aren’t that nice, especially because of the loud background music. Loud means that even at the terrace tables it’s difficult to have a conversation without shouting.

Many of them offer only special coffees that can be found in every trendy cafe in the world. We’d like to have a famous ordinary Cypriot coffee, but getting it seems impossible. Some of the places have also closed for the afternoon break.

When visiting Nicosia, it’s worth noting that many shops close their doors in the afternoon in the southern European way for a lunch break, only to be open again until late.

However, we have also noted that there are many outlets in Nicosia, some of which are still open. Unfortunately, the quality seems to go hand in hand with the prices. Most rags are overpriced, even at the special offer price of two euros.

The bus driver is the boss

Buses to Ayia Napa don’t go too often, so we decide to return with the one that leaves at five. The travel time is a couple of hours, so we’ll be back just for the dinner time.

The bus arrives and, unlike in the morning, the driver asks everyone for their Corona passport. From Ayia Napa to Nicosia, most passengers are vaccinated or tested tourists. In the other direction, there are others coming on board too, as we’ll soon notice.

Ahead of us, a young man who may be from the south of the Sahara is trying to get on the bus.
The driver asks for a Corona pass and the young man starts to dig into his pockets. The driver let’s us past him. We watch from our seats how the “search” for the pass continues.
The guy clearly doesn’t have one, which is probably because he doesn’t have a residence permit to get the vaccinations.

In the end, the driver orders the man out. The guy resists, but the driver tells him to contact the police if he wants to get on the bus since the bus company hasn’t come up with Corona rules. Before departure, the driver tells the passengers clearly and audibly about the rules during the trip.

“Everyone wears a mask all the time. If you don’t want to, then by all means get out. If I notice on the way that someone’s not wearing a mask, I stop the bus on the side of the road, wherever we are. And if you don’t like leaving, welcome to wrestle with me!”, announces our hulking driver.

Possible objections cannot be heard through the masks.

How to get to Nicosia

Nicosia is a highly recommended day trip destination for beach vacationers in Cyprus. You can get there on local buses or by organized bus trips. The latter can be booked either from package holiday organizers or from local travel agencies, for example from Ayia Napa.

A return trip on an Intercity bus from Ayia Napa costs nine euros per person (October 2023).
Here you can check the Intercity schedules and ticket prices in Cyprus.

If you decide to rent a car instead, follow the traffic signs to Lefkosia, which is the Greek name of the city. And remember, that the traffic is left-sided.

If we’d had a little more time, we might have visited, for example, one of Nicosia’s praised medieval Orthodox churches. However, we see them in Serbia as well, so the loss was not so serious.

We were satisfied with what we experienced and saw, and our excellent lunch was the absolute highlight of the visit for us foodies.

Would you like to have some Cypriot wine?

Read next: Cypriots get to taste their own wine – fortunately tourists too

Cypriots get to taste their own wine – fortunately, tourists too

P.S. Are you looking for a nice & affordable apartment hotel by the beach? – *This is where we stayed