CHURCH AND FANEROMENI SQUARE

The great Greek Orthodox church of Panagia Faneromi (Ιερός Ναός Παναγίας Φανερωμένης/Ieros Naos Panagias Faneromenis) and its square (Πλατεία Φανερωμένης/Platia Faneromenis) form a beautiful ensemble in the heart of the walled old town. The church was erected in 1872 on the site of an Orthodox church destroyed in 1715, which was itself built on a ^14th-century Catholic convent demolished by the Ottomans in 1571. This three-aisled basilica of Gothic-Byzantine inspiration has a domed roof and a 25 m-high bell tower. Built in beautiful honey-colored stone, it is dedicated to the "All-Holy Revealed" (Panagia Faneromeni), named after the icon "miraculously" discovered intact among the ruins of the previous church in 1871. This ^14th-century holy image of the Virgin and Child is preserved here and is the object of deep devotion. Until the creation of the new Agios Varnavas Cathedral, completed in 2022, Faneromeni was the largest church in the old town. But it remains the most frequented by Nicosia's Orthodox faithful.

Windmill, mausoleum and delicacies. Around the church, the courtyard houses a large wind turbine dating from the 1940s, which is no longer in operation (north side). The courtyard is closed at night. During the day, however, it provides a link between the café terraces on Faneromeni Street (to the west, opposite the church entrance) and Faneromeni Square (to the east, behind the church). The latter is dominated by the four neoclassical columns on the façade of the Faneromeni School, the island's first school for girls, founded by the clergy in 1857. Between the church and the school stands a mausoleum carved in white marble from Mount Pentelic in Athens. This is the Monument to the Cypriot Martyrs, which pays tribute to the 418 victims of July 9, 1821. On that day, a revolt in support of the Greek War of Independence was bloodily put down by the Ottomans. The mausoleum contains the remains of four Cypriot church dignitaries executed on the same July 9th. Installed in 1930, it is the work of Greek sculptor Constantin Dimitriadis (1879-1943), famous for his statue of the Finnish Discus Thrower (1924), of which there are two in New York and Athens. To the north of the square, you'll find the Arablar mosque and the family-run Mattheos restaurant. To the south, don't miss the delicacies of the Tria Fanaria patisserie.