Known as Ledra or Ledrae in ancient times, the city was the seat of the kings of Cyprus from 1192, became a Venetian possession in 1489, and fell to the Turks in 1571. Nicosia was the scene of extreme violence in the period just prior to independence, and since the Turkish invasion of 1974, part of the city's northern sector has been inside the boundary of a United Nations buffer zone.
The tombs of the Lusignan[?] kings are in the former Church of St. Sophia, now a mosque. There also are remnants of Venetian fortifications.
See also Cyprus/Transnational issues
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