Law Courts, Nicosia

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Law Courts building
Mahkemeler Binası

Law Courts North Nicosia front facade.JPG

The front façade and main entrance of the building
General information
Location Sarayönü Square
Town or city North Nicosia
Country Northern Cyprus
Current tenants Turkish Cypriot law courts
Groundbreaking 14 June 1900
Completed 1904
Renovated 1998-2009
Technical details
Floor count 2
Design and construction
Architect Charles Bellamy

The Law Courts building is a historic building in Nicosia, Cyprus, currently located in North Nicosia. It is located on the central Sarayönü Square.

Nicosia City

Nicosia is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of the island of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaoria plain, on the banks of the River Pedieos.

North Nicosia City

North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia is the capital and largest city of the de facto state of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. As of 2011, North Nicosia had a population of 61,378 and a metropolitan area with a population of 82,539.

Sarayönü Square

Sarayönü, officially Atatürk Square, is a square in North Nicosia. It is the centre of the Turkish part of the city and was the administrative center of the island for centuries.

Contents

History

The corner of the building facing the Sarayonu Square, with the British royal coat of arms visible on the surrounding wall Nicosia 01-2017 img33 AtatuerkSquare.jpg
The corner of the building facing the Sarayönü Square, with the British royal coat of arms visible on the surrounding wall

The site of the building was historically occupied by the Lusignan Palace, the former residence of the Frankish kings of Cyprus in the Middle Ages. The British colonial administration considered this building too weak and ruinous and decided to demolish it. [1] The historical gate of the palace wanted to be kept, but it was technically impossible to do so and the gate was moved to the present-day Lapidary Museum. Thus, plans made by Frank Cartwright, George Jeffery and William Williams in 1896 that kept the gate were discarded. The present-day law courts building was designed in 1899 by Charles Bellamy, the Director of Public Works. The construction began on 14 June 1900 and was completed in 1904, when the law courts, postal service, land registry office and police moved in. However, by the 1920s, the building was too small for the needs of the administration and new blocks were added to the east and west of the central building. [2] The building was renovated, part by part, between 1998 and 2009. [1]

Kingdom of Cyprus

The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Crusader state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but also had a foothold on the Anatolian mainland: Antalya between 1361 and 1373, and Corycus between 1361 and 1448.

Architecture

The building is in the Neoclassical architectural style. The central building is rectangular and built of yellow stone (ashlar). The entrance gate is a tower that protrudes from the front façade of the building, with semicircular arches on its three sides. The other façades are characterized by two-story colonnades and rooms located behind these. [3]

Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style principally derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles, and the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio.

Ashlar Finely dressed stone and associated masonry

Ashlar is finely dressed stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the structure built of it. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, or less frequently trapezoidal. Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar is capable of very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect.

Colonnade covered sidewalk

In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curved. The space enclosed may be covered or open. In St. Peter's Square in Rome, Bernini's great colonnade encloses a vast open elliptical space.

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Dereboyu Avenue

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Sarayönü Mosque

Sarayönü Mosque, also known as the Mosque of the Serai, is a mosque in the walled city of Nicosia, Cyprus, currently located in North Nicosia. It is very close to the Sarayönü Square and has historically been on the square.

Nicosia Post Office

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Akkavuk Mosque is a mosque without a minaret in the Akkavuk quarter of Nicosia, currently located in North Nicosia. The mosque was built in 1902, On the site of what appeared to be a small medieval chapel or church. A smaller mosque on the site had been built in 1895. The apse of the original building with a moulded arched window of 16th-century style survived, but all such traces have now been removed.

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Turunçlu Mosque

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References

  1. 1 2 "Lüzinyan Sarayı (Lefkoşa)". TRNC Law Courts. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Bağışkan, Tuncer (3 August 2013). "Sarayönü Meydanı'nın uzak ve yakın geçmişi" (in Turkish). Yeni Düzen. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Gazi, Ufuk. "Lefkoşa'da İngiliz dönemi imar faaliyetleri" (PDF) (in Turkish). Near East University . Retrieved 7 August 2015.

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