Nicosia a divided city
Nicosia is still divided. Nowadays, however, the dificulties people had in crosing the border of the Turkish part of the island constitute one of the legends. In the past the restrictions were so severe, especially for the tourists, that they discouraged people from exploring the North Nicosia. The role of the remained entanglements is becoming more and more symbolic. The relations between the Greek and Turkich Cypriots has not become more harmonious, although tourists can freely cross the border and see both parts of the city.
The city has been divided since 1974, after the Turkish invasion which gave rise to the creation of a new country – the North Cyprus – not recognised in the world. The city is divided by the Green Line, demilitarised zone controlled by the United Nations. In the past a person who wanted to cross the border needed not only an identity card but also strong nerves because he or she had to cross three frontier posts, Cypriot, UN and Turkish. Nowadays, the frontier traffic rather unconstrained and every tourist who want to visit the Turkish part of the city can go there without fear. The North Cyprus is worth seeing not only because of the beautiful monuments located in the cities and completely different, from the south part, climate, but also because of the beaches which look differently from the beaches of the South Cyprus.
Tags: archaeology, capital, city, excursion, Nicosia
