The Cypriot capital is today’s pick in my A-Z. Europe’s last divided capital. Nicosia technically shouldn’t be allowed to come under N, as in both Greek and Turkish it starts with an L. Λευκωσία (Lefkosia) in Greek and Lefkoşa in Turkish.
I spend the majority of my time in Nicosia on the Greek side of the border but I have also wandered over the border – once on foot and twice by car – in to North Nicosia, in the Turkish half of Cyprus.
The heart of Nicosia is centred around the pedestrianised Ledra Street (Οδός Λήδρας / Ledra Caddesi). Ledra is a major shopping and tourist destination in Nicosia, and since 2008 has also been a major pedestrian crossing point between North and South Nicosia.
The first time I went to Cyprus a couple of years ago, it was the Ledra Street crossing I used to enter Northern Cyprus for the first time. It felt a bit weird, having to use my passport to cross from one side of the street to the other – but that is the way it is in Cyprus. The following day I crossed the border in the car in order to go a bit further afield from the city centre.
