Mission in Nicosia: Yannis Yaginis
Nicosia has been named Europe's Top Cultural Destination for 2026 by the European Best Destinations (EBD). With a perfect score of 20, it scored 18.6, the highest among all the other cities that were rated, taking 1st place ahead of popular destinations such as Florence and Vienna, the only other European cities that scored above 18 and joined the top three of the list.
Nicosia scored 18.8/20 in Experts and 18.4/20 in Travelers, to achieve an average Final Cultural Score of 18.6/20. Florence scored 18.45 and Vienna 18.35. The top ten of Europe's top cultural cities for 2026 also includeLouvain, Sibenik, Verona, Tommar, Rouen, Oxford and Graz.
"It is a very big honour for us, as it came out of a competitive process of visitors from 131 countries. Around 22,000 visitors rated cities in Europe in terms of how remarkable they are as a cultural destination," Nicosia Mayor Haralambos Pruntzos told Euronews, commenting on the result of the European Best Destinations vote. This pan-European distinction comes at a time when Cyprus is becoming the heart of the European Union, although it is located at its south-easternmost point, as it holds the Presidency of the European Council this semester.
"Nicosia is a city that if one could describe it in two words, one would say it is a combination of the old and the new. It is in our dna this thing, it is a city that has been inhabited for over 3000 years, a very historical city with distinct historical periods and these periods have left their mark on the cultural characteristics of our city. This is what the evaluators identified, since first of all they said that Nicosia is an authentic city, which made us very happy because it proves that we are a city that is not made up but respects its history and culture by looking forward night and day," the mayor added.
In fact, this can be seen from the first walk one takes in Nicosia. The mayor explains: "We see traditional preserved buildings of traditional architecture coexisting together with tall buildings by well-known and world-famous architects. Eleftherias Square itself embodies what I have described. The old with the new. On_the_one hand we have the medieval walls of Nicosia built by the Venetians, by the great architect Giulio Savorianos all those years ago, and on the other hand we have Liberty Square, a square built just a few years ago by the great architect Zaha Hadid, one of the world's leading architects, who passed away relatively recently."
The recently renovated Freedom Square
Eleftherias Square has served as the central gathering place for citizens throughout the ages, identified with all the historical moments of Cyprus and hosted the capital's most important celebrations. The regeneration project aimed to functionally and aesthetically connect the modern centre of the capital with the walled city.
"Freedom Square was inaugurated 4 years ago and has been created by the famous architect Zaha Hadid, who won the architecture competition for inspiring the shape of the square. It was inspired by the shape of the bastion of the Venetian Walls," guide Christina Meta explains to Euronews.
The internationally renowned firm of Zaha Hadid undertook the study and design after a pan-European competition, completely upgrading the functionality and aesthetic quality of the public space, making it a benchmark project of great importance in this field. The project was co-financed by the European Union Structural Funds, the Republic of Cyprus and the Municipality of Nicosia.
The Medieval Venetian Walls of Nicosia
The innovative design of the square provides an unobstructed view of the Medieval Venetian Walls, which are an integral part of the city's identity.
The first walls were built by the Franks around the 14th century but were demolished and rebuilt by the Venetians in the 16th century.
The moat around the walls now has a variety of uses, from sports facilities and open-air sculpture exhibitions to public gardens and spaces.
The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia
An ideal destination to experience this special history of Nicosia is its Leventis Municipal Museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1989 and just two years later was awarded the European Museum of the Year award. It was named in honour of the creator of the foundation that funded it, Anastasios Leventis, who was Cyprus' first ambassador to UNESCO.
The museum is spread over three floors and is housed in a stone-built complex of three traditional neoclassical buildings in the old walled city of Nicosia, not far from Eleftherias Square. It is open Tuesday to Sunday and admission is free of charge. All the information accompanying the Museum's exhibitions is displayed in Greek and English, and guided maps of the Museum are also distributed in Greek, English, German, French and Italian.
"The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia is the Historical Museum of Nicosia, the last shared capital of Europe. Here visitors can tour its halls and have an experience. A journey through the history of the city, starting from antiquity and ending with the independence of Cyprus in 1960," Margarita Kounnafi, the Museum's Public Relations and Communication Officer, tells Euronews.
The Museum's permanent exhibition records the history and development of the area mainly through objects of everyday life. There is even a wedding dress made from a parachute on display, Ms Kounnafi reveals to Euronews.
The rooms are divided chronologically from the Chalcolithic period to the Byzantine and Medieval, Venetian, Ottoman and of course the Anglo-Saxon period. Clothing, furniture, books, books, photographs, collections of jewellery and embroidery are on display and there is also interactivity, which helps to make the museum appealing to younger ages.
The museum even has three temporary exhibition spaces, which host exhibitions organised by the museum itself or exhibitions from other museums and institutions in Cyprus and abroad, with themes related to the character and objectives of the museum.
The ultra-modern Leventis Gallery
The Leventis Municipal Museum also houses a few paintings. Many more, almost 800 to be precise, are exhibited a few metres away in another building of the same institution: the Leventis Gallery.
The Gallery was inaugurated in 2014, when its construction was completed after an international architectural competition. It is a modern, welcoming building, environmentally friendly and equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual museum equipment to inform and entertain visitors of all ages.
The Leventis Gallery permanently houses three collections: the Paris Collection, with great works from a wide range of European art, from many artistic schools and styles dating from the 17th to the 20th century; the Greek Collection, with works by important Greek artists of the 19th and 20th centuries; and the most recent Cypriot Collection.
These three Collections and the Gallery as a building constitute a reference point, a landmark for Nicosia, and at the same time a tribute to the greatness of our common European heritage.
The rich artistic scene and the Nicosia Festival
But beyond museums, Nicosia also has a rich artistic scene. Mayor_Haralambos_Pruntzos comments.The city offers high quality events and cultural productions that respect tradition but do not exclude contemporary art forms."
A typical example is the Nicosia International Festival, which has now grown and become an institution, presenting performances from all over the world and local creations, as well as local cultural production from new experimental stages.
"What I like is that we combine tradition festivals such as 'Adama' in the Municipal Garden with 5,000 people dancing traditional dances, many under 35 years old but in a very modern environment, but also performances such as 'Akran Khan' and other dance performances or theatrical productions of ancient tragedies or comedy," says the mayor.
The most important thing? There are suitable infrastructures in the city, such as the facilities of the Cyprus Theatre Organisation and the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
"We don't have sun and sea but... coffee streets"
In the European Best destinations assessment, things such as "gastronomy, the great Cypriot cuisine that has influences from the East, as well as our dishes and desserts are cultural characteristics of Nicosia", the mayor of the capital reveals and adds: "We are also an affordable city as a tourist destination, as prices have not skyrocketed, as is the case in other cities and other tourist destinations."
In fact, he reveals that cultural walks have been held recently so that visitors can easily get a taste of the city, thanks to which everyday life is highlighted. "For example, through a European project we highlighted the coffee streets in Nicosia, meaning that there are stops at various traditional cafes and newer ones that have authenticity and through these cafes, people get to know the history of coffee in the city," the mayor reveals.
As stated in the announcement, Nicosia stood out for the richness and authenticity of its cultural heritage, for its dynamic artistic production, for the multitude of cultural infrastructures it has, as well as for the unique experience it offers to visitors, whom it now hosts in all seasons of the year.
According to the Cypriot capital's municipality, this year's European Best Destinations ranking marks a dynamic start and confirms the city's steady progress towards international cultural recognition and its emergence as a new hospitality destination.
"Although we don't have the sun and sea like Cyprus' traditional tourism product, Nicosia is betting on its culture and inviting people from all over Europe to visit. All this gives a mixture of East, Europe and of course the Greek tradition of Cyprus in a cultural feature that I think is unique. And this at the end of the day is what was appreciated by the evaluators, but it is also what we want to show to the outside world", concludes Mayor Haralambos Prountzos.
