Nicosia:History of Nicosia
The Birth of Nicosia

The legend of the birth of Aphrodite, emerging through the foam of the sea waves, can be compared to the geological birth of Cyprus, in that the island rose from the ocean. The nucleus of this phenomenon is the mountain range of Troodos, which is 92 million years old. The rocks of Troodos were created from the ancient oceanic bark, which started rising from the sea 10 million years ago. First emerged from the sea the Troodos massif on to which limestone sediment began to attach gradually leading to a drop in the depth of the seas. The last to become attached was the Pendadactylos range to the north of the Troodos massif.
Nicosia emerged from the sea 1,8 – 5 million years ago. The emergence of Nicosia joined the Troodos and Pendadactylos mountain ranges and created the Mesaoria plain. This is how the island of Cyprus was created.

Ancient Nicosia

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Greater Nicosia is probably the only area in Cyprus that can boast continuous habitation since the beginning of the Bronze Age 2500 years BC, when the first inhabitants settled in the fertile plain of Mesaoria. It is this that makes Nicosia unique among Cyprus's Bronze Age sites, the fact that settlements in Nicosia thrived and developed, while others ceased to exist. During the first millennium BC, when Cyprus was divided into City-Kingdoms, Nicosia enjoyed neither the power nor the prosperity of other kingdoms, most of which lay on the coastline. It became obvious that the Kingdom of Ledra was firmly under the political will of its neighbours until the Roman times, when Nicosia was nothing more than a small town.
It was not until the dissolution of the City-Kingdoms at the end of the 4 th century AD that Nicosia managed to exploit its natural resources and geographical location, in the centre of the island.

















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