Inside the Buffer Zone of Nicosia

The Famagusta Gate is the most significant of the gates of Venetian Lefkosia, built in the 16th century, It is the Gate that once opened on the road leading to the most important Port of Cyprus in Famagusta.
This is not a regular city walk, but a passage through a town frozen in time. It will give you an insight into the current situation of the Buffer Zone “Green Line” off the beaten track, on streets that are hard to discover without the experience of a local guide.You will see the Venetian walls and how they form a boarder around the Old City, so unusual that once seen on a map will never be forgotten as a design synonymous with the unique shape of this ancient fortification. On our walk we will explore the Southern side of the city and follow the infamous “Green line” that cuts through the centre, separating the city into southern and northern sections. This division has kept the two major communities, of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots apart for more than four decades. Our journey begins at the Ledra Palace Hotel known in its era as the largest and most majestic hotels of the capital. You will witness life having evolved along either side of this schism, something once impossible to do until recent agreements between the two sides to open border crossings. We will explore Ledra Street located at heart of the aforementioned walled city now once again rekindled to one of the most popular pedestrian commercial streets accented by abandoned buildings reclaimed by nature through decades of lost time scarred by bullet holes, military outposts and barricades.
Guests will experience both the Ledra Palace and Ledra Street crossing and have an understanding of the two intrinsically different cultures as we walk by them.