A couple of days in Nicosia

4. Chrisaliniotissa Church
Diario di: Maria Teresa
Autore: Mari
Goteller: Privato
Categoria: per lavoro
Creato il: 25/05/2010
Data Da: 26/04/2010
Data A: 29/04/2010
Licenza: Creative Commons License
Nazioni: Cyprus
: nicosia
Parole chiave: Mevlevi Museum.

Two days in the Cypriot capital and two days of travel

Going to Cyprus from Rome is very long and it can take quite an all day if you have to transit for many hours at the airport of Athens.

So it was for me, I left Rome at 11,00 a.m. with the Aegean airlines and arrived in Larnaka at 9,00 p.m.

I was invited to Cyprus for a conference and all the speakers were lodged at the Cleopatra hotel, non far from the centre.

The Conference took place in an old and nice building of the University of Cyprus, and there was not so much time to visit the town.

The first morning I had a couple hours walks inside the star-shaped city. It was designed by the same architect who draw the walls of Palmanova in Italy. I visited two nice old byzantine churches. In one of them there were many persons coming inside and following always the same internal path, stopping in from of some icons and kissing them.

Then I followed an itinerary along the the Green Line which cuts the town in two, with the northern side being the capital of the self-proclaimed Northern Cyprus, and the southern half being the capital of the Republic of Cyprus.

In this area, there is a very nice architecture, but the houses are very degradated and many of them are occupied by iron craftsmen.

The day after I visited together with a friend the Turkish side. I already knew it, and as the other time, I noticed that in this area the cultural heritage is much more well preserved. We entered the han, the mosque, and then we visited the Mevlevi Museum. It is very interesting and I take here some notes from the museum's leaflet. "The Mevlevi Tekke in Lefcosia was an important cultural centre of the Ottoman era in Cyprus, It is situated within the walled city, south of the Kyrenia Galte (Girne Kapisi), and was built in the 17th century on land donated by Emine Hatun". 

You enter an arched door above which an an Ottoman incription informs taht this the house of Mevlana. Then a courtyard hosts nice examples of Ottoman carved tombstones.

Though a door you access into the semahane. In the first room, with a nice wooden ceiling sustained by columns, there are some models of dancing dervishes, while an upper balcony hosted the musicians.

Then there is an example of old dervish cell, with cuisine tools, a table and other object.

Another room contains the Mirhab, indicating the direction to Mecca. Thourg a doors finally you acceed to the chambers in which the sheikhs lie buried. There are 16 tombs beneath 6 domes. All tombs are covered with embroidered textiles. On the wall there are very interesting historic images. 

Immagini associate

10. Visita al Museo Archeologico
10. Visita al Museo Archeologico
2. Faneromeni Church
2. Faneromeni Church
2. Faneromeni Church
2. Faneromeni Church
2. Faneromeni Church
2. Faneromeni Church
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
3. Costeggiando il limitare dell'area turca
4. Chrisaliniotissa Church
4. Chrisaliniotissa Church
4. Chrisaliniotissa Church
6. Area turca. Il museo dei Dervisci
6. Area turca. Il museo dei Dervisci
6. Area turca. Il museo dei Dervisci
6. Area turca. Il museo dei Dervisci
7. Cartoline
9. A cena in taverna
9. A cena in taverna
9. A cena in taverna
9. A cena in taverna
9. A cena in taverna
9. A cena in taverna

Memo Associati

accomodation

http://www.cleopatra.com.cy/

4-stars hotel, confortable and very conventional.
Good breakfast.