Presidential Palace of Cyprus
The Presidential Palace of Cyprus is the office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and is located in Nicosia, being one of the most beautiful buildings of the capital of Cyprus.
A historical building that houses the local authority of the island since the late 19th century, the Presidential Palace of Cyprus is characterized by a mixture of various elements, which were copied from remarkable local traditional buildings, such as Byzantine and Gothic elements, as well as Ottoman decorative details that all together compose a multicultural structural form. Through the blooming gardens, the visitor is greeted by the large entrance to the central building with the six arches (three on the ground floor and three on the upper floor), the columns with carved capitals and the British lion and unicorn, and on top of it the coat of arms of the Republic of Cyprus with the white pigeon that was placed there in 2013. Above it emerges the huge dome of the main building. Also, on the south side of the building, two rows of 4 gutters protrude. The lower ones represent human figures and, more specifically, the general supervisor of the work, the initiator, the archi-clerk and the "unknown" worker. The rest of the gutters at the highest point represent the then basic animals of Cyprus, the ox, the donkey, the camel and the sheep.
On either side of the entrance of the mansion there are two large canons and opposite them, there is the monument of the 1st President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III who welcomes the high guests who approach the door of the entrance. The door was constructed according to the model of the monastery of Agios Chrysostomos in the Pentadaktylos mountain range, and each side was formed of at least 288 small wooden pieces of six different types of wood, joined together without the use of nails or screws. The proportions of the tower in the center of the building are taken from the Kolossi Castle in the homonymous village of the Limassol province, while for its general construction, stone was used from Gerolakos, because of its gentle yellowish color, its hardness and its strength. In the interior, limestone was used from the Limassol area and wood from the Cypriot forests (eucalyptus, pine, plantain, cypress, walnut) and from various parts of the British Empire.
Characteristically, all the columns in the building differ from each other and have different carved patterns on them.
During the British domination (1878-1960), the Presidential Palace of Cyprus was the governor’s house where the British Governor of Cyprus lived. Initially, the 1st English High Commissioner on the island, Sir Garnet Walsley, temporarily stayed at the Metochi of the Kykkos Monastery, outside the city walls, but he soon moved to the Armostio, a wooden house that was imported from abroad and placed at the location of today’s Palace. In 1925, the Armostio was renamed Kyvernio (Governorate) and during the popular uprising of 1931, it was destroyed by a fire. In its place, it was decided to build a new building, based on traditional architectural elements. The Governorate’s plan was made by a British architectural house and the construction was undertaken by the Government Department of Public Works.
Following the independence of Cyprus in 1960, the Governorate became the official Presidential Palace of the Republic of Cyprus. Although burned on July 15, 1974 with the coup against Archbishop Makarios III, it was rebuilt a few years later with financial assistance from Greece. Since 1979 the Presidential Palace of Cyprus has been the office and residence of the President of the Republic of Cyprus.
Presidential Palace of Cyprus
1400 Nicosia, Cyprus
Phone: 00357 22 867400
Fax: 00357 22 663799
email: infopresidency.gov.cy