The inauguration of the archaeological site of the old Nicosia town hall in the historic part of the city took place on Tuesday evening.
The archaeological site is situated on Palia Ilektriki (Old Electricity) road, in front of the capital’s new town hall in the old part of town.
The inauguration took place by Nicosia Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis and Communications and Works Minister Yiannis Karousos.
Digging of the archaeological site began in 2002 and was completed in 2006.
It is considered as the biggest excavation carried out in the walled city.
Yorkatzis, said: “The co-existence of the new town hall of Nicosia with the archaeological site was – on the one hand – dictated by the desire to implement the project in this area. So that is gets to contribute towards its revitalization.
“And on the other it was dictated by the need to highlight such an important archaeological site that came to light.”
In his address, Karousos said the excavation was given the name “Old Town Hall” since it is where the first privately owned town hall of Nicosia was built in 1914-15.
The archeological findings mainly range from the Byzantine to the Ottoman periods and are centered on what is believed to be a crusader palace, but items dating to the later Bronze Age have also been found.
The site is four meters below street level and is surrounded by the tall buildings of the new town hall.
Perimeter walkways allow the archaeological site to be visible from the surrounding streets and buildings.
