A Cultural Heritage in the Walled City of Nicosia: "Dervish Pasha Street" from the Past to the Present

Abstract

Dervish Pasha Street is in the Arabahmet Quarter within the walled city of Nicosia, which has a rich historical texture of architectural works of various historical periods of Cyprus. It presents an important example of historical street texture of the neighborhood with its cultural heritage buildings. The creation of the historical texture of the street began with a two-floor house of Traditional Turkish House, built there during the Ottoman Period (1571-1878). The development of the street texture was completed to a great extent during the British Period (1878-1960) with the building of single and two-floor houses, first with the characteristics of Turkish Architecture, and later with the architectural influences of the period. During the Republic of Cyprus period and the years following that, during which intercommunal political problems and migrations occurred, no change or development was observed in the street texture; however, the demographic structure of the street changed. Works for the preservation of the historical texture of Dervish Pasha Street began in the period of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (1983-...) and initially the street was pedestrianized and the facades of the buildings were restored. Also, the TRNC Office of Antiquities and Museums carried out an inventory work and a list of buildings was prepared. Most of the historical houses of the Dervish Pasha Street texture are being used as dwellings, and three of those buildings are being used for cultural and artistic functions.