An important cultural heritage in the walled city historical texture of Nicosia: “Victoria street ”

Abstract

Victoria Street is the most important arterial street of Arabahmet Neighborhood, an important part of the walled city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, which houses the historical city texture. A cultural mosaic embodied in its architectural heritage, the formation of the street texture dates back to the Byzantine period of Cyprus. Beginning in the Lusignan period with the Armenian Church still standing today, the historical street texture did not show any development during the Venetian period. The formation of texture of Victoria Street continued in the Ottoman period, and a symbol of the street and the city, ArabahmetPaşa Mosque and XIX. Century Traditional Turkish Houses have taken place in its texture. The historical street texture saw its most important formation and development process during the British period. Besides many buildings with shops on the ground floor and houses on the upper floors built during this period, concrete buildings of shops and houses, three-floor apartments built towards the end of this period contributed to the shaping of the street. The Catholic Church within the present day historical texture of the street was also built during the British period, and forms the border of the street at its south end. During the Republic of Cyprus period, which began in 1960, concrete shops and houses were built in place of buildings tumbling down, and the development of the street texture continued. However, because of the political strife between the communities in Cyprus, the demographical profile of the street changed and this historical texture was neglected. Later, some of the Traditional Turkish House style buildings were renovated with funding from the United Nations and became functional. The aim of this study is to analyze the formation and development of Victoria Street, which is an important cultural heritage within the historical texture of the walled city of Nicosia, through various historical periods, and to establish the physical and social status and its important place in the city beginning with the first construction of the street texture to the present. Information was gathered from written and visual resources for the study using a qualitative research method. The street texture was examined with a field study and photographed.