In this video we explore the Green Line of Cyprus. The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus is a demilitarized zone, patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), that was established in 1964 and extended in 1974 after the ceasefire of 16 August 1974, following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and the de facto partition of the island into the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus (excluding the British Sovereign Base Areas) and the largely unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north. The zone, also known as the Green Line (Greek: Πράσινη Γραμμή, Prasini Grammi; Turkish: Yeşil Hat), stretches for 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Paralimni in the east to Kato Pyrgos in the west, where a separate section surrounds Kokkina.
The dividing line is also referred to as the Attila Line, named after Turkey's 1974 military intervention, codenamed Operation Attila. The Turkish army has built a barrier on the zone's northern side, consisting mainly of barbed-wire fencing, concrete wall segments, watchtowers, anti-tank ditches, and minefields. The zone cuts through the centre of Nicosia, separating the city into southern and northern sections. In total, it spans an area of 346 square kilometres (134 sq mi), varying in width from less than 20 metres (66 ft) to more than 7 kilometres (4.3 mi). After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Nicosia remains the last divided capital in Europe. Some 10,000 people live in several villages and work on farms located within the zone; the village of Pyla is famous for being one of the few remaining villages in Cyprus where Greek and Turkish Cypriots still live side by side. Other villages are Deneia, Athienou, and Troulloi. Some areas are untouched by human interference and have remained a safe haven for flora and fauna.
This is not a regular city walk, but a passage through a town frozen in time. It will give you an insight into the current situation of the Buffer Zone “Green Line” off the beaten track, on streets that are hard to discover without the experience of a local guide. You will see the Venetian walls and how they form a border around the old city, so unusual that once seen on a map will never be forgotten as a design synonymous with the unique shape of this ancient fortification.
On our walk we will explore the south side of the city and follow the infamous “Green line” that cuts through the center, separating the city into southern and northern sections. This division has kept the two major communities, of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots apart for more than four decades. Our journey begins at the Ledra Palace hotel known in its era as the largest and most majestic hotel in the capital.
You will witness life having evolved along either side of this schism, something once impossible to do until recent agreements between the two sides to open border crossings. We will explore Ledra street located at the heart of the aforementioned walled city now once again rekindled to one of the most popular pedestrian commercial streets accented by abandoned buildings reclaimed by nature through decades of lost time scarred by bullet holes, military outposts and barricades.
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