City Wall on the Greek side
Having retired around 1930 last night and with it being daytime in New Zealand, my body clock woke me up around 0300. I couldn’t sleep anymore and sat up reading, writing and chatting.
After breakfast, I took a walk around the old city’s wall, starting around 0820 at the west on the Greek side, going all the way around to the east near Famagusta Gate.
The city and it walls were built by the Venetians around 1570 and take a highly-unusual shape with 11 bastions for maximum defence.
Somehow, in my jetlagged state on the afternoon of my arrival, I hadn’t realised the trench-shaped location of Eleftherias Square and near the old aqueduct was in fact due to the old city wall and its moat.
The walk took about 30 mins, after which I returned to my room to plan the rest of the day. Having little interest in entering museums to see broken pottery, statues etc I decided that I’d explore the city wall on the Turkish side.
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- Nicosia’s old city wall has eleven bastions, designed for good defence.
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- Nicosia’s city wall at a one of its 11 bastions.
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- Nicosia’s city wall at a one of its 11 bastions.
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- Eleftheria Square is built in the moat outside the city wall, but in my jet-lagged state I didn’t click.
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- Buildings inside the city wall.
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- Old aqueduct near the eastern end of the city wall.
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- Famagusta Gate, one of three main gates of the ancient city.
City Wall on the Turkish side.
Crossing to the Turkish side today, I was presented with a glitch. The officer didn’t want vaccination certificates on the phone. I had to return to my room (which wasn’t far, fortunately) to retrieve my New Zealand vaccination letter.
I started my walk along the wall around 1020 at the west and it took 30 mins to get to the east. It certainly felt much longer probably because it was already my second walk and it was hotter too.
On my walk, I noticed that in Northern Cyprus, as in Cyprus people drive on the left (British) side of the road. Whereas in Greece and Turkey it is on the right (US/Europe) side.
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- UN sentry post in the moat. I’m on the Turkish side, the Turkish side also on the left. The building on the right is the Ledra Palace Hotel near the vehicle crossing point and was home to the UN Peace Keepers.
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- Nice homes near the western wall in North Nicosia.
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- Nice home near the western wall in North Nicosia.
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- Kyrenia Gate.
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- Military station near the eastern wall in North Nicosia.
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- Blockade on what used to be a road through the city.
Chilling
I had a small lunch and hit the gym in the afternoon. My attempt at taking a dip in the hotel pool failed as it wasn’t warm enough for me.
For dinner, I thought I’d eat lightly, opting for the kebab with half the portion of meat compared to yesterday’s but with beef instead of pork. I reckon they made the double portion and charged me the half instead. Ah well!
I went to bed at 2000 after a big day out walking. It’s the second day with nearly 20,000 steps. Not bad for having woken up at 0300.
Conclusions on Nicosia
I knew that Nicosia wouldn’t be stunning like Dubrovnik or Valletta, otherwise everyone would be here too! But it was rich and interesting in its contemporary history of conflict. I enjoy learning about the history and seeing with my own eyes how people are living out the consequence.