Nicosia

Nicosia is the only divided capital city in the world — the UN-patrolled Green Line ceasefire line runs through the old town, dividing the Republic of Cyprus (EU member) from Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Turkey). The crossing points are open to passport holders of most nations. Walking through the checkpoint — the sandbags, the UN soldiers, the abrupt change from EU-standard Greek-Cypriot streets to Ottoman-era Turkish-Cypriot markets — is one of the more arresting short walks available to a traveller in Europe.

The old town on the southern side sits within a complete ring of Venetian fortifications — 16th-century star-shaped walls, eleven bastions, a dry moat (now public gardens) — that give the city a contained, legible historical shape. Laiki Geitonia is the pedestrianised old quarter with restored Cypriot townhouses. The Cyprus Museum, just outside the walls, holds the finest collection of ancient Cypriot art — including 2,000 intact terracotta warrior figures from the 7th century BC. The Leventis Municipal Museum chronicles the city across four floors of a restored building.

Cross the Ledra Street checkpoint and in five minutes you are in a different world: Büyük Han (the Great Inn), a 1572 Ottoman caravanserai with a domed mosque in its courtyard and restaurants in the surrounding arcaded rooms; Selimiye Mosque, originally the 13th-century Cathedral of Saint Sophia with Ottoman minarets added to its Gothic towers after the 1570 conquest; and the Bedesten, a covered market where Byzantine, Gothic, and Ottoman layers are visible simultaneously. The café square behind Selimiye serves Turkish coffee and börek at prices 30-40% lower than the southern side.

Nicosia is undervisited precisely because most Cyprus visitors base on the coast. This is a mistake for anyone interested in the island's complex history. One full day and a night is enough; it pairs naturally as a circuit stop with Paphos (1h 45min by highway) or Larnaca (45min).