A sure sign of affluence in Nicosia was the establishment of the first savings organization in 1898, which by 1912 turned into the first bank, called the Bank of Cyprus.
When the first Anglican church of Nicosia, built in 1892 on the Mangana hill collapsed, a new one was constructed near the Museum and the first Evangelist church was also built nearby. A few years later the Dervishes’ Mevlevi Tekke by the Kyrenia Gate, became one of the most favourite tourist attractions. It was built in the 17th century on land donated by Emine Hatun. The Koran belonging to Lala Mustafa Pasha, the conqueror of Famagusta is in the library of the Tekke. One could see the Dervishes whirl in absolute perfection, dressed in their white costumes and tall hats. Not being accepted in Turkey since the closing down of their tekkes in the late 1920s by Mustafa Kemal, they had found refuge in Cyprus. Each religious denomination had its cemetery. Near Jiritti the Armenians buried their loved ones, the British in Ayii Omologites. The Turks buried theirs by the Kyrenia Gate and the Greeks at Ayios Spyrithonas.
The phaetons, commonly known as Victorouthes, were replaced by carriages and the latter, from 1890 onwards, by bicycles. The car made a grand entrance in 1892 and in 1905 Nicosia became an important stop on the railway line. The wife of the High Commissioner drove through the streets of the city with her cawass, the servant, in the back seat of the car, his job being to throw stones at the dogs that lay sleeping in the middle of the narrow streets of Nicosia so that her car could keep moving!
Photograph: pht_ 01706, Jane D’arcy Collection, 20th century
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
The ‘Did You Know’ series is made possible with the support of OPAP (Cyprus).
