Churches in old city of Nicosia

For our IMAP activity today we have decided to discover churches in the old city of Nicosia in order to get a deeper knowledge of the great religious diversity in Cyprus.

The first church we ran across was the church of Archangelos Michail, an example of the franco-byzantine architectural style.
The church was built in 1695 and there is the belief that it has replaced an earlier Gothic church.
Unfortunately the church is closed on Wednesday so we couldn’t enter.

The second church we discovered was Faneromeni Church, one of the largest churches of the capital, built in 1872.
The first thing we noticed was the interiors very different from the ones we are used in catholic churches.
Another interesting thing we found out was the habit to kiss the icons.
The atmosphere was very sumptuous and full of chandeliers and overall it has an attractive structure, it worth the visit.

Along the way we found the Omeriye Mosque but unfortunately it was prayer time and we were not allowed to enter.

And finally we discovered a little Mosque along the line that separates the two sides of the city that is called Tahtakale Mosque.
The mosque is very tiny and we noticed it behind the buildings.
We don’t know the history of the mosque and probably there is no more worship service inside.
Though, it was interesting how it was melted with the surrounding neighborhood with coloured houses and doors.
If you walk along here it is worth a stop.

Created by Mirko and Luca