Laïki Yitonia

Nicosia (Lefkosia)


Meaning ‘Popular Neighbourhood’, Laïki Yitonia was restored after serving for many years as an area for painted ladies and dodgy merchants. This tiny southern part of the Old City is Nicosia’s only tourist area. That means it’s full of unremarkable restaurants with tacky water features where waiters try to lure you in with cheesy greetings to eat food that is often overpriced. However, it’s still pretty and pleasant enough for a short stroll.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has an office here, and you can stock up on most maps and other tourist brochures free of charge.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nicosia (Lefkosia) attractions

1. Leventis Municipal Museum

0.02 MILES

The best place in town to get to grips with Nicosia's rich and convoluted history. The permanent collection inside this handsome neoclassical mansion…

2. Church of Archangelos Michail

0.09 MILES

This domed church was built in 1695 and is thought to have replaced an earlier Gothic church on the same site. The exterior is built in Franco-Byzantine…

3. Shacolas Tower Observatory

0.1 MILES

Shacolas Tower Observatory provides a superb vantage point across the city and the mountain range beyond. Boards below each window point out and provide…

4. Cyprus Postal Museum

0.12 MILES

For the dedicated philatelist. Devoted to Cyprus' postal history, this museum holds a collection of stamps dating back to British colonial rule.

5. AG Leventis Gallery

0.18 MILES

Located just outside the Old City, this art museum features three collections displaying European paintings and sculpture from the 16th to the 20th…

6. Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation

0.21 MILES

The highlight here is the beautifully curated Museum of George and Nefeli Giabra Pierides Collection on the mezzanine floor, which contains more than 600 …

7. Omeriye Mosque

0.24 MILES

Originally the Augustinian Church of St Mary, the Omeriye Mosque dates from the 14th century, with its tall minarets added after its conversion in 1571…

8. Bayraktar Mosque

0.24 MILES

This small mosque marks the spot where the Venetian walls were successfully breached by the Ottomans in 1570. The Ottoman bayraktar (standard bearer;…

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