Europe

[Visited: July 1974, August 2020]

For many years, it had been a childhood memory. I was on holidays in Cyprus, we traveled around the island and then ended up in Nicosia. The coup d'etat of 1974 happened exactly then: president Makarios fled, a civil war loomed, and we were locked in our hotel for several days before we could escape to Beirut. The Turks invaded the island shortly thereafter, and the island has been divided ever since. I had several sights pinned to be seen, and we started by visiting the Museum of National Struggle, to learn more about the background of the struggle that preceded independence from the UK. From the museum, I walk to Ermou and Minoos Street, until I reach the green line. The point of return. Right in the middle of the street, I find a barricade of barrels, of fences, of shacks, topped by barbed wire. I see vintage cars covered in dust, with flat tyres, that look like they have not moved since the coup in 1974.
On my way west, I take side streets towards the north whenever I can. Most of the shops are closed, and I am not sure if this is because of their proximity to the green line of Nicosia, or because it is August, or because there is a pandemic going on. There are also businesses where people are working, or even bars which are open, right next to the barrier. Even the smallest streets are closed off, and it reminds me of Berlin before the fall of the wall in 1989. Streets blocked half way, cars parked right in front of them. Most of the green line consists of closed streets, but I also run into a checkpoint with soldiers, under Greek and Cypriot flags. Big no-picture signs, and when I walk away and turn around, I see two minarets of the Aya Sofia mosque rising from behind the checkpoint, and a Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flag.
There are more dead-end streets, and checkpoints, on the way west. Together with some friends, I go up the tower near Ledra checkpoint, and from the 11th floor, we can see the entire city, a huge Turkish Cypriot flag on the mountains to the north of Nicosia. After finding the hotel I stayed at with my parents and sister during the 1974 coup, we walk to Ledra checkpoint, which is closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This would normally be a legal border to cross into northern Cyprus. I continue my walk, see more checkpoints, one with a drawing of Cyprus with blood dripping from the north, more flags, and UN buildings. When I reach the Our Lady of Graces church, I have reached the west side of the old city of Nicosia. I walk back along the old city wall with its many bastions, which still surrounds the old part of Nicosia. Instead of visiting the sights I had marked, I have concentrated on seeing some of the marks of a divided city.

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Nicosia Green Line (Cyprus)

Nicosia Green Line > Cyprus > Europe

[Visited: July 1974, August 2020]

Around the World in 80 Clicks