A century after its creation, it remains a vibrant part of Nicosia, serving as a meeting place, a symbol of modernization, and a space where different groups, from time to time, assert their presence and visibility
The creation of Nicosia’s first Public Garden is inextricably linked to the changes brought about by British administration in the capital’s urban fabric. The first action that signaled this change was the establishment of the Commissioner’s Office (which later became the Presidential Palace) on Snake Hill, southwest of the city walls, as early as 1878. This decision was based on the assessment that the old city was chaotic, dirty, and unsanitary. Beginning with the Commissioner’s Office and followed immediately by the Chief Secretary’s Office, the authorities took steps to move the city outside the walls, while simultaneously promoting the development of the surrounding area in accordance with their own standards of hygiene, aesthetics, and social order.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In 1879, the first opening was made in the city walls next to the Paphos Gate, creating a road that connected the government offices that remained within the walls (the Governor’s Office), the Chief Secretary’s Office, and the Commissioner’s Office. The area outside the Paphos Gate became a major transportation hub, a development that immediately highlighted the nuisance caused by the presence of the Tannery, located a few meters south of the Paphos Gate(at the northeastern entrance to the current Garden). The intense stench emanating from the tannery provoked a backlash from city residents, who, in a petition signed by 112 prominent citizens and addressed to the authorities, demanded its relocation “for the common good.” Despite strong opposition from the tanners, who feared for the survival of their families, the British administration proceeded with the relocation of the craft industry in 1886, paving the way for the area’s redevelopment.
A Path Toward Beautification
The opportunity for a more ambitious beautification project arose in 1897, with Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. A special committee was formed at that time, which recommended the creation of a Public Garden south of the Paphos Gate. Among the area’s advantages was its accessibility from all of the city’s neighborhoods. It is interesting to note that the site originally proposed was across from the current Garden and was bounded by the Pafos Gate, Mana tou Nerou (where the Archaeological Museum and the mansion were later built at the intersection of what are now Egypt Street and Diagoras Street). The project was not completed immediately, as there were several private properties in the area—primarily Turkish Cypriot—and the process of expropriating them was not straightforward. In 1901, following Queen Victoria’s death, the project was incorporated into the commemorative events honoring her, while the colonial government sought to accelerate its implementation. Thus, it undertook, at its own expense, to establish the Garden on the site that had become available following the relocation of the Tannery, which also included “a plot of great value with 229 trees” that had been ceded by City Hall. The Garden came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, which was headed by Panagiotis Gennadios, a man of Greek descent and a pioneer of agricultural modernization in Cyprus.
The Garden in Operation
On August 9, 1902, Kipos was officially inaugurated with great fanfare as part of the celebrations marking the coronation of the new King Edward VII.The event was a major occasion for Nicosia. In attendance were government officials, Mayor Achilles Liasides, and a large crowd. Enthusiasm was palpable, with newspapers reporting “sky-high cheers in support of the English monarchs.” For a large part of the Greek community, cooperation with the British administration seemed at the time to be a path to progress, but also a possible route to national restoration. The idea of a violent conflict with the British did not exist at that time, not even in the most radical minds.
The Public Garden was not merely a recreational space, but the focal point of a comprehensive modernization effort. Among other things, it hosted agricultural exhibitions, at which the best producers were awarded prizes, as well as the nursery facilities that supported the modernization of agricultural production. Soon, the Garden was flanked by the Archaeological Museum and the English School (now the District Court), forming a new center of power and culture outside the city walls. In the mid-1930s, the landscape was completed by the General Hospital, which was state-of-the-art for its time. The Police Band regularly performed in the Garden, and demonstrations, parades, and ceremonies were held there to reinforce colonial prestige. The area became an interesting hub offering culture, education, healthcare, and entertainment, thereby masking—with relative success—the contradictions of colonialism, which balanced precariously between the promise of progress and the reality of the local population’s subjugation.
Transition to Independence
By the 1950s, the area had become one of the busiest in the capital, a fact that compelled the authorities to construct the largest roundabout of the era outside the Paphos Gate. Kipos bore witness to the EOKA struggle, as well as the political transition that followed. Before the British handed over the reins to the Cypriots to govern their island, the foundations of the Municipal Theater were laid, and under a special agreement between the Government and the Municipal Council, part of the Garden was leased to the Municipality for 99 years, effective January 1, 1957. The Municipal Garden—as it is now known—was also honored during the Independence Day ceremony. At what was until recently the Information Office (now the House of Representatives), on the southern edge of the Garden, the documents proclaiming Cypriot independence were signed at midnight on August 15, 1960. Twenty-one cannon shots rang out from Kipos, marking the transition to an era that transformed Cypriots from subjects into citizens.
In the era of independence, the Garden continued to serve as an important landmark for the capital in ways worthy of study and description. A pivotal moment in its development was its reconstruction in the late 1960s, based on designs by Neoptolemos Michaelides. Today, more than a century after its creation, it remains a vibrant part of Nicosia, serving as a meeting place, a symbol of modernization, and a space where different social and ethnic groups, from time to time, assert their presence and visibility. The history of its creation and operation reminds us that public spaces are never neutral. They carry memories, reflect social and political tensions, and inscribe in their physical form the perceptions, expectations, and claims of different groups and different eras.
