Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: Lefkosia

This map shows the walled town section of Lefkosia (Nicosia) leaving out the north/south division. It is a good map to show the shape of the Venetian built medieval walls – sort of like a snow flake, or a cross section of plant on a microscope slide.

There is a soccer pitch in the foreground, and then barbed wire and barrels and the United Nations watchtower, marking the buffer zone of no-man's-land. The imposing wall on the left is one of the impressive spade shaped bastions on Lefkosia's fantastic Venetian medieval walls.

Well, when these barrels were put in place, there were assumptions they would only be temporary. After all, how long could Lefkosia remain divided? 30 something years later... The building behind is abandoned, and lies in no-man's-land.

Nothing beats a lovely cat. Just as prevalent north of the Green Line as south. Just as cute, too.

Atop one of the original gates in the medieval walls, the southern (Republic of Cyprus) forces have created a strengthened position. The passage under the wall can be used. The paths and steps up the walls end abruptly at solid walls with firing slits for guns. The Turkish side, over the “Green Line”, is actually off to the right side of the photo (i.e. walking under the wall has you still on the same side of Cyprus, but outside of the old city, if that makes sense). But, this is a very significant point, as both sides hold their positions strongly, the buffer zone between them is almost non-existent, and this puts the foes within spitting distance of each other. Four flags flutter at each other here – Greek and Cyprus versus Turkish and North Cyprus. Sorry, couldn't get the flags in a photo as they were in the “do not photograph here” zones.

In the northern part of Lefkosia (Nicosia), there are a number of buildings that were built as churches but have since had their function changed. This is the Haydarpasha Mosque, formerly the Church of St Catherine.