Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
T
Tours
The
Cyprus Tourism Organisation
runs free guided walks on Monday and Thursday, leav-
ing at 10am from the CTO office in the Old City.
'Chrysaliniotissa & Kaimakli: the Past Restored' is a bus and walking guided tour that
runs on Monday; Thursday is a walk through Old Nicosia. The walks last two hours and
45 minutes, and include a 30-minute half-time break.
Alternatively, pick up a CTO walking-tour brochure.
WALKING THE GREEN LINE
Despite the fact that crossing into North Nicosia is now straightforward, the Green Line and the evocative buffer
zone, with its abandoned houses, are still fascinating. While there's not a lot to see once you are there (save for
some creative graffiti work), its mere presence gives Nicosia a bizarre edge. You'll see the double minarets of the
Selimiye Mosque, North Nicosia's most remarkable landmark, with the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags that
hang between them like washing. The Green Line embodies the eeriness of the capital's and the country's divi-
sion, especially when coupled with all those harrowing 1974 Cypriot stories.
UN and Greek Cypriot bunkers punctuate the line across the city, and you are not allowed to approach them
too closely. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO)-signposted walking tour takes you hard up to the line at the
far eastern side of the city, close to the military-controlled Flatro (Sibeli) Bastion. Take the last turn left off Leo-
foros Athinas along Agiou Georgiou and look for the little street on the right named Axiothea. Walk to the end of
this street and squeeze through the gap into the next street, following the walking-tour sign. One area which was
formerly one of considerable desolation and destruction is towards the end of Pendadaktylou where it meets Er-
mou, the street that originally bisected the Old City. Buildings here are gradually being resurrected and turned in-
to artists' studios and similar.
