Description of the attraction
Located almost in the very center of Nicosia, Ledra Street is one of the main shopping streets of the city. Its length is just over one kilometer, but at the same time it is located in two states at once - in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and in the Republic of Cyprus. The street got its name from the name of the ancient city, which was once located on the site where Nicosia was later built.
Most of Ledra, about 800 meters, is located in the Greek part of the island, another 150 meters is located on Turkish territory. The remaining 70 meters is a non-owned buffer zone currently occupied by UN peacekeeping forces. The military set up their headquarters in the famous Ledra hotel. Surprisingly, initially, their task was to protect the inhabitants of the Turkish part of the island from terrorist attacks by Greek Cypriots, which became more frequent in the middle of the last century. At that time Ledru was even called the "dead mile" because of the constant bloody battles.
Now Ledra is safe and completely pedestrianized - there you can walk, relax on benches and shop at local shops and kiosks.
Until recently, the street was divided by a barricade three meters wide. But in 2008 Ledra was opened, which became a significant event for the island, as it was another step towards establishing a dialogue between the two states. Now, in order to cross the border, citizens of the southern part of the island only need to present documents, but Turkish Cypriots are still forced to go through the full procedure up to a visa stamp in their passport.
