Kyrenia Gate
Sept. 23, 2024, 6:08 p.m.Location: Nicosia
Kyrenia Gate
Latitude: 35.1814
Longitude: 33.3617
Location: Nicosia
Date: The building of the Kyrenia gate started around 1562 and was completed almost five years later
Type: None
Description:
The building of the Kyrenia Gate (also called 'del Proveditore') was started by the Venetian government around 1562, as part of the works for the creation of the new city walls of Nicosia. It was later restored in 1821 by the Ottomans; while in 1931 the British government demolished the walls on both sides of the door. On the south façade several inscriptions and slabs are visible; they were added during different phases of the 'lifecycle' of the Kyrenia Gate. Above the arch-shaped entrance a Latin inscription composed of different fragments is visible (NIC_KG_01). It contains a reference to the year 1562, when the works for the erection of the gate probably started. This epigraphic text was not always visible during the 'lifecycle' of the building; it was reconstructed and displayed on the façade of the Gate only after the 1930, probably in 1931, when both walls aside the door were demolished. A trace of the aforementioned works, conducted by the British government, is constituted by two blocks aside the Latin inscription; they bear respectively the following text and date: G(eorgius) V r(ex) et i(mperator) 1931. Above the Latin inscription there is also a slab created by the Ottomans. It displays the tughra (calligraphic monogram and signature) of sultan Mahmud II, who carried out the restoration of the Gate in 1821.
Images credits: photo by M. Klajban (2019) through Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Kyrenia_Gate%2C_Nicosia%2C_Cyprus.jpg) CC BY-SA 4.0
Bibliography :
Jeffery 1918, p. 29.
Created: Sept. 23, 2024, 6:08 p.m.
Modified: Sept. 23, 2024, 6:21 p.m.
