Nicosia (Lefkoşa)

The capital city within the Nicosia District is the country's political, commercial, and cultural centre — and the world's last divided capital. The historic Old City sits inside a complete ring of Venetian walls from the 1560s, and the line dividing the island runs through the middle of it. The Cyprus Museum, the Selimiye Mosque (the former Cathedral of Saint Sophia, a Gothic building of the first rank), the Büyük Han caravanserai and the old-town quarters on either side are the key sites. Nicosia rewards slower exploration than the beach resorts: the lanes on both sides of the divide, the cathedral of Saint John with its 18th-century frescoes, and the Byzantine and Modern Art Museum provide a full day's programme.

The Machairas Monastery, 40 kilometres southeast of Nicosia on the northern slopes of the Troodos range, was founded in the 12th century and is one of Cyprus's most important Orthodox monasteries, housing an icon of the Virgin Mary attributed (by tradition) to Saint Luke. The current buildings date from 1892 after a devastating fire; the monastery is still active and receives pilgrims. The surrounding Pitsillia sub-region — a series of villages on the northern Troodos foothills — is one of the quietest and most traditional parts of the island. The village of Agros is known for its rose water production (roses harvested in May) and traditional sausage (loukaniko Agrou), and has good walking in the surrounding hills.

Ancient Tamassos near the village of Politiko, 20 kilometres south of Nicosia, was one of the most prosperous of the ancient Cypriot city-kingdoms, founded on copper mining and smelting. Copper — kupros in Greek, giving Cyprus its name — made Tamassos rich enough to mint its own coins and build elaborate temples. The excavated site includes the sanctuary of Aphrodite and Apollo (with fragments of a limestone bull's head), two remarkable Royal Tombs from the 6th century BCE with carved decorative elements showing Phoenician, Egyptian, and Greek influences, and a copper smelting area. The site is modest in scale but historically significant and rarely crowded.