Ledra Palace Hotel and Crossing

A symbol of divided Nicosia and of the first crossings opened in 2003

Local name: Λήδρα Πάλας

Collection: Cyprus Basics Exam · Cyprus · Open in OpenStreetMap

The story

The Ledra Palace opened in 1949 as a grand hotel of Nicosia. After the clashes of late 1963, the line dividing the city ran right past it, and in early 1964 the first post appeared by the hotel. In July 1974, during the Turkish invasion, there was fighting here. The National Guard, the army of the Republic of Cyprus, held the hotel, and a UN convoy evacuated the civilians, mostly foreigners. The hotel has not operated since. The UN occupies the building in the buffer zone, and meetings of the two communities take place there. On April 23, 2003, the checkpoint next door was opened for crossing between south and north for the first time in almost 30 years.

The Ledra Palace is a former hotel in the Nicosia buffer zone, where there was fighting in July 1974 and where UN peacekeepers later moved in. On April 23, 2003, the checkpoint next to it became one of the first two crossings opened between south and north.

Visiting

The hotel is a UN facility, with no public access. The checkpoint is crossed on foot; passports or ID cards are checked at both posts, so check the rules for your status in advance.

On the way

• Paphos → Nicosia
• Limassol → Nicosia
• Larnaca → Nicosia

Photos

Sources

• UN Security Council. Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations operation in Cyprus, S/2003/572 (May 27, 2003): Ledra and Pergamos crossings opened on April 23, 2003; meetings of the communities in the former Ledra Palace hotel
• UNFICYP — About the Buffer Zone (crossings open since April 2003, including Ledra Palace)
• UNFICYP, Blue Beret, Spring/Summer 2019 — New Accommodation for UNFICYP Peacekeepers from Sector Two (hotel built in the late 1940s, used by the UN since 1974; NGO meetings at the hotel)
• Heraclidou A., Stylianou-Lambert T. The Ledra Palace Hotel and the ‘difficult history’ of modern Cyprus. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 47(1), 2023, pp. 103–122

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