Nicosia
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia or Lefkoşa, is the capital of Cyprus. Its northern part is the de facto capital of Northern Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost capital city among European Union member states.
Typical weather
1981–presentVital absurdities
measured · the Anti-AwardsWhat to do each season
2winter
mild, in the Troodos rain shadow; mean 10.5-21.7 °C across the range; December wettest (2.6 mm/day); snow accumulation rare (1950, 1974, 1997, 2015, 2022); record low −3.7 °C (Feb 2025)
- indoor cultural season: the Cyprus Museum, the Leventis Municipal Museum, the Byzantine Museum, the Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Mansion
- the Ledra Street crossing — the only pedestrian checkpoint between the Greek-Cypriot south and the Turkish-Cypriot north — quietens
- the Mahallas (the medieval walled old city within the Venetian walls) carries the dense indoor market-and-café life
summer
sweltering and almost rainless; mean 26.5-29.8 °C, July mean max 35.8 °C, August 35.7 °C; Jun-Sep precip 0.0-0.1 mm/day; record 46.2 °C on 4 September 2020 — the highest temperature ever recorded in Cyprus
- life shifts to evening; the Laïki Yitonia (folk neighbourhood) fills late
- the Mahallas (walled city) and the moat-gardens become the cool-evening civic space
- Nicosia's role as a year-round business-and-financial hub continues (32nd-richest city in the world in 2018 by relative purchasing power)
What it is known for
Important moments in a year
Dead Zone 1974
- the dividing line through Nicosia — a permanent civic-transformation episode; Ledra Street pedestrian crossing opened in 2008
Nicosia Carnival
- Nicosia Carnival (smaller than Limassol's but the capital's pre-Lenten ritual)
Ayios Andreas Day
- patron-saint days in the Greek-Cypriot south
On the record
source-trackedNicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century.
It [Nicosia] is the last divided capital in Europe.
Three years after Cyprus gained independence from British rule in 1960, the Bloody Christmas conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots triggered island-wide intercommunal violence.
In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus just days after a Greek junta-backed coup aimed to unite the island with Greece. Following the invasion the island was split between Cyprus in the south and a Turkish-occupied zone in the north, with the dividing line running through Nicosia.
Located in the rain shadow of the Troodos Mountains, Nicosia has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) characterised by low annual precipitation totals and average annual temperature.
On 4 September 2020, Nicosia recorded a temperature of 46.2 °C (115.2 °F), the highest ever recorded in Cyprus.
Nicosia is the financial and business heart of Cyprus. The city hosts the headquarters of all Cypriot banks, namely the former Cyprus Popular Bank (also known as Laiki Bank), Bank of Cyprus, and the Hellenic Bank and the Central Bank of Cyprus.
A number of international businesses base their Cypriot headquarters in Nicosia, such as the big four accounting firms PWC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young.
According to a UBS survey in August 2011, Nicosia is the wealthiest per capita city of the Eastern Mediterranean and the tenth richest city in the world by purchasing power in 2011.
There is no operating train network in Cyprus.
The method behind this atlas — 196 pp. Not published yet.