Famagusta Gate, Nicosia's grand entrance

Of the three gates in the Venetian walls of Nicosia, this is the one to see from the inside. From outside it looks like a wall with a big door; inside there’s a passage and a room you don’t expect. What it is, when it opens and how to work it into a walk all come from the municipality, which runs it.

The gate on the road to the port

It was named after the road to Famagusta, at the time the island’s most important port. The Venetians called it Porta Giuliana in honour of Giulio Savorgnano, the engineer who designed the walls and began building them in 1567. It was the largest of the city’s three entrances, and the municipality calls it the most imposing.

Watch out for the name, as it confuses people. The gate is in Nicosia, at the eastern edge of the old town, and has nothing to do with a trip to the town of Famagusta, which lies on the east coast, in the north.

What’s inside

The façade leads into a long vaulted passage. Halfway along it opens into a large room under a dome 10.97 metres across, with the long rooms where the guards stood on either side. It’s plain, defensive stonework, and I like it more for that than the ornamental gates you see in other cities.

It was restored in 1981 and became the municipality’s cultural centre. Since then its two large halls have hosted lectures, screenings, exhibitions, concerts, plays and folk art shows, and the municipality describes it as the heart of the capital’s cultural life.

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When to go

The municipality gives two weekday slots, a morning one from 10:00 until 13:00 and an evening one from 16:00 until 20:00. It publishes no weekend hours, so I wouldn’t count on finding it open on a Saturday unless an event is advertised. It doesn’t publish any price for seeing the gate either. I’d go late in the afternoon, after walking along the moat.

What’s nearby

The gate closes the walk along the walls at its eastern end. A couple of minutes away, on the Podocataro bastion, is the Liberty Monument, with the old aqueduct opposite. To the north begins the Chrysaliniotissa quarter, right up against the Green Line, and to the west the Archbishop’s Palace with the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia. From Ledra Street, allow a quarter of an hour on foot.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Famagusta Gate and choose by the reviews.

With a guide, for free

If you’d rather see it with someone who knows the story, the Nicosia Tourism Board runs free guided walks through the old town. One route starts at Eleftheria Square, crosses the Ledra Street checkpoint, carries on through Phaneromeni Square, the Palia Ilektriki area and Ermou Street, and reaches Famagusta Gate and the Liberty Monument before returning through the Tillyria and Omeriye quarters. For a first-timer in Nicosia it’s a good opening morning, because it puts the gate in the context of the whole circuit of walls. Places are booked through its website. The rest of the city is covered in Nicosia.

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Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Nicosia before prices climb.