Architectural heritage of the buffer zone in the walled city of Nicosia was among the 27 winners of the 2011 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage, Europa Nostra Awards, announced on Thursday in Brussels.
According to Europa Nostra’s official website, the project was unanimously acclaimed by the jury “as a fine and comprehensive study of all the buildings within the UN protected buffer zone of Nicosia, originally the heart of this walled city”.
The study of the architectural heritage of the buffer zone was implemented within the framework of the bi-communal Nicosia Master Plan Project (NMP), which was launched in 1980 as a collaboration between the two communities in Cyprus, for the development of Nicosia as a whole and the revitalization of the walled city.
The Buffer Zone, separating the two communities in Cyprus, also called “The Green Line” was established in 1964 within the Resolution 186, approved by the UNSC following the outbreak of inter-communal violence. The zone extends approximately 180 kilometers across the island. In some places in old Nicosia, it is only a few meters wide. In other places, it is a few kilometers wide. The Buffer Zone was perpetuated by the 1974 Turkish invasion whish resulted in the occupation of 37% of the island’s territory.
(source: cna)
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