The Pedieos River, which for centuries has shaped and connected different parts of Nicosia, can serve as a common lifeline and source of sustainability for the capital
From the outskirts of Machairas, where it originates, to its mouth at the Bay of Famagusta, the Pedieos River flows through the Cypriot landscape and has shaped Cypriot history for centuries. Among other things, it was a key element of the environment around which Nicosia developed. Archaeological and historical research indicates that the medieval city stretched out on both sides of its riverbed. The Pedieos River entered the capital roughly at the site of today’s Paphos Gate and, flowing from west to east through the city, exited near today’s Famagusta Gate. Bridges connected the two banks, making the river both a natural boundary and a route of communication.
A major change occurred in 1567. As part of the construction of new fortifications by the Venetian authorities, the engineer Giulio Savorgnano designed a diversion of the Pedieos River outside the new perimeter of the walls. This was a drastic intervention in the natural and urban landscape. The river continued to be the conduit of the life-giving power of water that enriched Nicosia’s aquifer. However, the old riverbed, which did not disappear, took on a different, less appealing role. During the Ottoman period, it was gradually transformed into a dumping ground for sewage, garbage, and dead animals, essentially functioning as an open sewer.
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After the arrival of the British, initiatives were undertaken to cover the old riverbed within the city walls, as it was a source of nuisance and a threat to public health. To cover the open drainage channel, the municipal authorities offered citizens the right to commercially exploit the section they would backfill as an incentive. Thus, on the one hand, the channel was covered and converted into the main storm drain within the city walls, and at the same time, Ermou Street was developed, one of the most important commercial streets in modern Nicosia.
Outside the walls, the Pedieos River remained a defining feature of the new city. The riverbed ran alongside the new residential and administrative axis that began at the High Commission and ended at Paphos Gate. This development struck the British as a risk, one to which the Cypriots had grown accustomed. When the waters around the riverbed were stagnant, the wet soils became breeding grounds for mosquitoes that transmitted deadly malaria. The eucalyptus trees that characterized the landscape of the riverside areas were linked to efforts to drain the wet soils and limit these breeding grounds. The waters were not dangerous only when they were stagnant; when they swelled, the threat of flooding loomed. In December 1918, for example, following torrential rains, the Pedieos River, in the early morning hours, “rushed through the Paphos Gate into the city and flooded most of the shops located on the main street leading to the Famagusta Gate” (Patris, 12/18/18), causing extensive damage.
By the mid-20th century, the negative trends centered on Pedieos had been almost completely curbed. Cyprus was declared malaria-free in the early 1950s, and flood control projects made significant progress—though even today they are not at an ideal level. Following the tragic events that led to the de facto division of Nicosia, the river gained new momentum. As part of the bi-communal Nicosia Master Plan, which began in 1979, the Pedieos River was viewed as one of the natural axes capable of transcending the dividing line spatially. As early as 1984, the idea of restoring and developing it as a public green space was proposed,
Although different, more transportation-oriented uses of the riverbed were later considered, the concept of a green corridor ultimately prevailed. Construction of the Linear Park took place in stages beginning at the turn of the millennium, creating a corridor several kilometers long for pedestrians and cyclists. Today, its extension toward and through the buffer zone revives an idea of special symbolic significance. Pedieos, which for centuries shaped and connected different parts of Nicosia, can serve as a common lifeline and a symbol of sustainability for the capital.
