A 3km walk with stuffed backpack brought me to the Paphos bus station and my ride to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus and of north Cyprus (i.e., the Turkish Republic of Cyprus). Nicosia is somewhat reminiscent of Berlin when we visited in 1984. There is a no-man's strip of land, called the Green Line, right in the middle of the city with abandoned buildings and signs about not taking pictures of them. You pass through two checkpoints when you cross the Green Line. It seems more like a formality than a real barrier.
This is the Cyprus Supreme Court building.
Nicosia is a very interesting city. Lots of old buildings with vibrant pedestrian sections surrounded by massive city walls built by the Venetians. The northern, Turkish, section is a maze of narrow streets bordered by rather humble one-story homes. There are many ruins of buildings, either from age or from the conflict between the two Cypriot factions that has transpired here. The northern part of the city has a very middle eastern feel to it.
In planning my time, I was intrigued by the city of Girne - the ancient port of Kyrenia. Occupied by at least six different groups, Kyrenia played an important role in this part of the world, particularly during the Crusades. It was a major Crusade staging ground. Richard, the Lion-hearted, and his cousin, Guy de Lusignan, hung out here. Well, they hung people here too - and worse. I toured the castle with its exhibitions of torture, displays of a nearby Neolithic settlement, a 2300 year old Greek merchant ship that had been wrecked a mile away, and even an embedded Byzantine church. It seems that the Venetians had enlarged the castle walls and built them right around an existing, small church. You take a narrow passageway to see the church and then on top of the castle walls, you can see the embedded dome of the church. Girne/Kyrenia harbor is also very picturesque as you might see from the pictures.
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