Above: Picture of Famagausta Gate

The Famagusta Gate is a historical relic piece handed down by the island’s tumultuous history. It is also a portion of the fortified medieval town wall of Nicosia. Initially, it was labeled by the Venetians as the “Porta Guiliana”. This was a tribute to Count Savorgnano - the military engineer who created the wall.

During that time, the Gate was also recognized as the “Porta di Sotto” or the Lower Gate. This was due to the fact that there was so much dissimilarity in the leveling compared to its exterior. It is also known as the “Taht-el-kaleh” to the Turks.

Nicosia / Lefkosia or Lefkosa, is still a divided city (since 1974) – divided (as is the rest of the country) into the Turkish ruled Northern Cyprus and the southern (Greek) portions divided by the “Green Line”, a demilitarized zone maintained by the United Nations.

The Greek part of Nicosia is the capital of Cyprus’ Republic and has a population of about 170.000. The atmosphere is modern and traditional, dynamic and calm at the same time. Its without any doubt the most interesting city on the island and very different from the tranquility of the rest of the islands towns and villages.