The reconstruction of the old City Hall in Nicosia has been completed.
The renovated building was inaugurated the other day with the participation of Cypriot President Nicos Christodoulides, Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis and Archbishop George III.
During the ceremony, the Mayor of Nicosia said that a lot of work had been done. He stressed that the municipal authorities are working hard to revitalize the city center. Thus, over the past 12 years, 160 million euros have been invested in projects inside the Venetian walls. For his part, Christodoulidis said that by opening the restored building of the Nicosia Municipality, they are opening a new chapter in the history of the city.
It should be noted that the building was completely modernized inside and outside, as well as the surrounding area. The works included maintenance and renewal of all electromechanical installations. In total, about 1.5 million euros were spent on the renovation. The project was implemented under the Cohesion Policy Program "THALEIA 2021 - 2027" with EU co-financing.
Recall that the neoclassical building, rising in the center of the capital, was built in 1930. It originally housed the Luna Park Cabaret at the Bastion D'Avila. The building then functioned as the offices of the APOEL soccer team.
It became the city hall much later. By the way, the first office of the Nicosia Municipality was located in Dimarchiou Square, in the area where the Central City Market is located today. In 1944, the municipal office was temporarily moved to the Luna Park Cabaret building. And after another seven years, in 1951, it was decided to restore the facility and use it as a permanent city hall building.
Interestingly, local officials tried to build themselves a new modern building in the parking lot next to the city market. The municipality held an architectural competition and managed to start construction in December 2001.
However, it had to be suspended almost immediately. Important archaeological artifacts were discovered in the area. To this day, the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus continues to excavate in an attempt to discover and protect these historical finds.
