The revitalization of the historic centre of Nicosia with

emphasis on the preservation of its bioclimatic characteristics.

by Marina Tymviou | Architect | Nicosia Municipality

Overview Nicosia has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century A.C. and reflects the islands’ rich heritage. The old city, surrounded by the Venetian Walls of the 16th century, contains some of the island’s finest examples of
Byzantine, French Medieval, Venetian, Ottoman and British Colonial Architecture.
Political events during the last four decades have culminated in the physical partition of Nicosia. A buffer zone, where previously used to be the liveliest part of the city, splits the town into two separate urban parts that have been devel-
oping independently of each other, thus causing the disintegration of the city entity.
In 1979, under the umbrella of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) the two communities (Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot) initiated a dialogue for a conservation and planning strategy capable of, when circumstances al-
low, the development of the city as one entity. For that purpose a bi-communal team of national and international experts was formed.
After a detailed survey of the existing situation and the preparation of an Area Scheme for Central Nicosia, an approved program for special development projects took place, with the aim of stimulating the physical, functional, economic
and cultural reactivation of the city centre, as the key to the overall development of the city. So, twin projects were implemented in parallel on both sides, restoring important monuments/landmarks, simple traditional buildings, or entire
abandoned neighborhoods adjacent to the buffer zone.

Restoration of monuments
Old acqueduct, Beyouk can
Omerye and Selimye projects

Phaneromeni and Samanbahce

project areas

Chrysaliniotissa and Arab Ahmed

housing rehabilitation projects
Pedestrianisation scheme of the
commercial area
Survey of the buffer zone

Phaneromeni phase II project

LUSIGNAN TIMES (1192 - 1489) VENETIAN TIMES (1489-1571) THE OTTOMAN PERIOD (1571-1878) PRESENT SITUATION
THE BRITISH ERA (1878 - 1960)

Historic evolution of Nicosia (NMP archives) Rehabiliation of Nicosia | Bi-Communal Priority Investment Projects

Introduction For 9,000 years the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea has been a stepping stone between East and West, a setting for dramatic events, Backdrop for Shakespear’s Othello, gift of Anthony to Cleopatra,
birthplace of Aphrodite, Cyprus is steeping in history and has, over millennia, inspired myth, legend and the imagination .
Nicosia was established, in the centre, as capital of the island nearly a thousand years ago, during Byzantine times, when the population moved to the centre of the island because of the Arab attacks at the costal zones.
Over the centuries, the city has been living legacy of the island’s rich heritage and around every corner one can find a reminder of the passage of time. Neolithic founding, ancient Greek and Roman ruins, Byzantine churches, Medieval-
Gothic, Ottoman and British Colonial architecture mixed with modern buildings in narrow streets.
An aerial snapshot reveals one of the most distinctive feature of the city, the massive circular 16th century Venetian Wall, which is characterized by eleven heart-shaped bastions, three gates and a ditch comprising an excellent example
of the bastion system of fortifications of the time. The three gates of walls namely, Famagusta gate (east), Paphos gate (west) and Kyrenia gate (north) obtained their current names according to the major city they led to, when exiting
fortified Nicosia. This significant monument is the primary landmark for Nicosia constituting an integral part of the city’s identity .
But the amalgam of cultures that shaped Cyprus’ unique identity, has also contributed to its turbulent history, as reflected in its capital city. Tragic events in recent decades have culminated in the physical separation of the Turkish Cypriot
and Greek Cypriot communities. Nicosia was broken in two through its historic and cultural heart – the inner Walled City .
In a very real sense, Nicosia is the hub of urban activity in Cyprus. The city presents today two faces: the old city surrounded by the Venetian Walls and that of a modern metropolis. Metropolitan Nicosia comprises eight municipalities
(population about 240,000) and Nicosia Municipality which includes the Venetian Walls and historic city with a population of about 50,000. In the last century the city’s role as administrative, commercial and cultural centre of the island
has been strengthened. Since the 1930’s the total population of the existing two parts has risen five-fold to nearly 200,000 from one-tenth to one third of the population of the island.
Several problems have accompanied this rapid growth. One is the unplanned, uncontrolled and wasteful nature of urban sprawl that is pulling the city outward in many directions. The second is the reality of human partition. The buffer
zone that cuts through the Walled City is a daily reminder of division, encouraging the unrestrained growth of two separate parts.
Decades of neglect and physical decay, along with the steady movement of people away from the City’s centre, are transforming Old Nicosia into an urban ‘‘frontier’’, disintegrating at its core. So, despite the growth of Greater Nicosia,
the historic core of its Walled City was dying.

Residential Rehabilitation projects

Methods In addition to the planning, restoration and sustainable urban regeneration concerns under the Nicosia Master Plan objectives, energy efficiency issues are increasingly at a point of attention in order to achieve minimum en-
ergy consumption in the city. The traditional building stock of the city presented an ideal setting for research in this field. In this context a research program under the name Biovernacular was initiated in July 2013 and is funded by the
Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Funds. The research aims at establishing a bioclimatically-based approach in the conservation of traditional buildings and thus contributes to the regeneration and sustainable
development of the urban environment of the Walled City of Nicosia.
In order to estimate the opinion of users regarding the overall comfort conditions in the interior of traditional buildings, a wide research was carried out using questionnaires. The acquired information provides insight on the way the resi-
dents use their houses in order to achieve comfort. The sample of the survey consists of 60 users living in traditional buildings. The results reported below are attributable to a percentage (%) of the total sample.
The investigation showed that some building elements that have remained and have been used during all periods in the dwellings in the urban centre of Nicosia are: the arrangement of rooms around a central yard, the prevalence of
semi- open spaces and the orientation of the spaces. The dwellings were frequently arranged in compact patterns, closely built with common walls, one attached to the other, following the continuous urban system. Thus, the walls of the
dwellings exposed to exterior environmental conditions are reduced and the thermal protection of the building envelope is increased. The selection of appropriate building materials (mudbricks, local stones) and the structural techniques
(thickness of the walls) were also climatically driven.
After an overall historic and architectural investigation of the urban area of Nicosia, a study of a large number of buildings from a typological, bioclimatic and construction material point of view was carried out. The bioclimatic strategies
of heating, cooling and microclimatic conditions were studied in detail (central yards, semi-open spaces, construction and materiality etc.). The analysis of the data collected showed that special emphasis in the urban houses was given
to the cooling rather than the heating strategies due to the hot climate of the area which probably led to the enhancement of the cooling strategies through cross ventilation and stack effect (openings) as well as to shading (pergolas,
shutters,etc.).

A) Evaluation of thermal comfort-Summertime B) Evaluation of thermal comfort-Wintertime C) Evaluation of thermal comfort-Springtime D) Evaluation of thermal comfort- Autumn

The monitoring of temperature and humidity levels in selected buildings demonstrated the great importance of the building materials and techniques used. The significantly lower temperature fluctuations recorded in the internal spaces,
confirms the high thermal insulation characteristics of the building envelope and the thermal inertia secured by the thick wall construction materials. The temperature data recorded, also confirm the positive contribution of the semi-open
spaces as sun shading elements.
According to the findings of the preliminary stage of the research, it has been noticed that the residents of the traditional dwellings often proceed to interventions in the building envelope, which alter some of the original typology features.
Some of the most common interventions encountered are the closing of the semi-open spaces “iliakos” and “portio” with frameless glass elements that can be opened and the closing of the small openings on the upper part of the facade,
called “arseres’’. The monitoring of houses with such interventions reveals that their impact is significant with regard to the bioclimatic function of the building shell and therefore their contribution to the passive cooling was significant and
their presence should be safeguarded.

Cooling Strategies Overall assesment of indoor thermal comfort conditions Window operation

Conclusions Revitalizing the Nicosia historic centre has been a constant challenge of achieving a successful balance between preserving the cultural heritage, overcoming the limitations of the division and leading the city towards a
sustainable contemporary development. The above mentioned research programme has shown that vernacular architecture in the historic centre of Nicosia was mainly developed diachronically on the principle of providing the necessary
requirements through the local resources and nature’s energy. Throughout time, while architecture and urban morphology were subject to different socio-economic, cultural and political factors, the strategies applied in the building form
and its immediate built environment, show high adaptability to the climatic conditions. The research showed that special emphasis was given to the cooling (cross ventilation, stack effect) rather than the heating strategies. The combina-
tion of shading and night cooling reduces the interior temperature. The great importance of the courtyards is also underlined through this investigation as they offer a series of environmental improvements with favorable results during
all periods of the year. The data recorded, confirm the positive contribution of the semi-open spaces as sun shading elements. Moreover the reduction in temperature fluctuation observed inside the buildings under study, compared to
the respective temperature fluctuation of the external environment, helps towards the achievement of more comfortable living conditions within these traditional dwellings. We hope that this research will lead to the establishment of a
bioclimatic-driven approach in the conservation of traditional buildings in the old city of Nicosia. We believe that we have made some progress towards this objective.

The research described is based on a research programme that is funded by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Regional Development Fund
(Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation’s Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Innovation Δέσμη 2009-2010, ΑΝΘΡΩΠΙΣΤΙΚΕΣ/ΑΝΘΡΩ/0609/ΒΙΕ).
The Host Organisation of the programme is Nicosia Municipality and the Partners are the University of Cyprus, the ICOMOS Cyprus and the Frederick Research Institute.
Special thanks to the Nicosia Master Plan team for providing access to the NMP archives.