Nicosia, the capital, is an enticing landlocked city and is ideal for experiencing what modern Cyprus is all about. A vibrant business hub, Nicosia is home to many national and international head offices, universities and cultural institutions, giving it a cosmopolitan flavor.
The city has incorporated elements of the many empires and kingdoms that have claimed it over centuries stretching back to the Bronze Age. Narrow winding streets lead visitors from the Cyprus Museum, with its collection of Neolithic and Roman artifacts, to the thick city wall.
Built in the 1600s by the Venetians, the wall now divides the ancient part of the city from the modern. Step through the stone gates and enter a place where the past is still alive, where a labyrinth of narrow streets reveals churches, mosques and evocative colonial-style buildings, experience the museum, housing an extensive archaeological collection.