Kyrenia Gate

The Kyrenia Gate (Turkish: Girne Kapısı, Greek: Πύλη της Κερύνειας, historically known is Italian as "Porta del Proveditore") is a gate in the Nicosia walls, in North Nicosia, TRNC. It was the gate which was used for transport to the northern areas, especially Kyrenia.

The gate was built in 1567 by Venetians, as a part of the new city walls. It was restored by the Ottomans in 1821, and a lookout was added to the gate for a probable Greek revolt.

Now, the gate is used as a tourism information office by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality.

Tablets from different periods hang on the gate. One of these is in Latin and dates from the Venetian period, featuring the date "MDLXII", (1562) when the construction of the gate began. The text in Latin was rediscovered when an inscription of the Quran placed by the Ottomans on it was removed in 1931 by the British. In the same year, "1931" and "GVRI", which is an abbreviation of "George V Rex et Imperator" ("George V, King and Emperor"), were inscribed on the gate to mark the date of the renovation and the reigning British monarch. A third inscription was placed by the Ottomans in 1821, who renovated the gate at the time, and bears the tughra of Mahmud II. The text in Arabic script reads: "O Muhammad, relay this news to those who have believed: the victory comes from Allah and its celebration is imminent. O, the opener of the gates, open gates that lead to good." The inscription was written by Sayyid Fazullah Dede, the head of the Nicosia Mevlevi Lodge, whose building is now preserved as the Mevlevi Tekke Museum.

Kyrenia

Kyrenia (Greek: Κερύνεια [locally [t͡ʃeˈɾiɳˑa]]; Turkish: Girne) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.

While there is evidence showing that Kyrenia has been populated since ca. 5800–3000 BC, it is traditionally accepted that the city was founded by Achaeans from the Peloponnese after the Trojan War. As the town grew prosperous, the Romans established the foundations of its castle in the 1st century AD. Kyrenia grew in importance after the 9th century due to the safety offered by the castle, and played a pivotal role under the Lusignan rule as the city never capitulated. The castle has been most recently modified by the Venetians in the 15th century, but the city surrendered to the Ottoman Empire in 1571.

The city's population was almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians in 1831, with a slight Muslim majority. However, with the advent of British rule, many Turkish Cypriots fled to Anatolia, and the town came to be predominantly inhabited by Greek Cypriots. While the city suffered little intercommunal violence, its Greek Cypriot inhabitants, numbering around 2,650, fled or were forcefully displaced in the wake of the Turkish invasion in 1974. Currently, the city is populated by Turkish Cypriots, mainland Turks and Britons with a municipal population of 33,207.