Nicosia, Cyprus: A Divided Capital and Turkish Occupation

I’ve just shared my experience of spending a couple of sun-soaked days in Larnaka, Cyprus — if you haven’t seen that post yet, make sure to check it out for sea swims, salt lakes, and plenty of cats! 🐾 Now, here’s the second part of my trip — a shift from coast to capital, as I headed inland to Nicosia for work.

It was even hotter there than Larnaka — maybe around +37°C — and since I had meetings most of the time, I didn’t get to explore much. But even with my short stay, Nicosia left a deep impression on me. I had the most beautiful apartment with a huge terrace in 5th floor and was able to enjoy the sunrises and stars at night.

One of the most unique things about Nicosia is that it’s the last divided capital in Europe. Part of the city is controlled by the Republic of Cyprus, while the northern part is under Turkish occupation since 1974. A “Green Line” buffer zone, maintained by the UN, runs between them — a kind of no man's land with abandoned, semi-destroyed buildings frozen in time since the war. During a short excursion, we walked near this zone, and seeing it up close was haunting.

There were lots of signs "no photography" in this buffer zone and plenty of soldiers maintaining the order so I definitely didn't want to risk and photograph! The excursion was also given to us by a local person - a co-worker that hosted our work meetings. So it's not as if there was a real tour. However, I did take some sneaky videos so I extracted some photos from them.

This building for example, is still with holes from the bullets, enclosed by a barbed wire fence. We were told that UN soldiers were hiding in this building during the war.

Another house, left abandoned and affected by the war is still with sandbags on the windows for bomb protection.

Knowing that all this happened really not that long ago felt quite emotional and scary at the same time.

Crossing to the Turkish-controlled side is surprisingly easy today — they just check your passport, and you can walk right through.

It felt strange and a bit emotional to step across an invisible political line and feel how divided yet connected the city still is. I learned that for many families, this divide meant years of separation. Even though now people can cross more freely, the trauma of the wall and the sudden split still lingers in everyday life.

The Turkish side is not really different from the Cyprus part of Nicosia. What I did feel was different, that just as you cross the "border" you can immediately see traditional Turkish candies sold which is not found in the Cyprus side. And I didn't have much time to explore this Turkish side so my experience in it is only superficial. These are some photos from the Turkish-controlled side:

There’s a quiet sadness to Nicosia that mixes with its rich, complicated history. The narrow streets, mixed architecture, and the sense of layers — cultural, political, emotional — make it unlike any city I’ve visited before. I didn’t take many photos here, but what I experienced stayed with me deeply.

Below are a few photos I did manage to take.