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Home > Places To Visit > Nicosia - Lefkosa > The Bedestan

The Bedestan

The Bedestan
Turning right from the entry of the Buyuk Han, follow the narrow road south and after that left, to see rising up sooner than you the crumbling facade of the Bedestan, initially a Gothic church of the 14th century. It was originally two churches, and provided as the greek Orthodox cathedral all through Venetian times. The Bedestan was changed by the Turks to serve as a grain store and clothing market (bedestan means covered market). Its interior is roughly damaged, with fixed pillars supporting arches. It is empty save for a few medieval Muslim tombstones, although at the time of writing a UN-funded restoration plan was in full swing. The Bedestan`s most remarkable feature is its entrance gateway, highly carved. Particularly fine are the gargoyles, their mouths grotesquely formed to act as spouts for the rain drains. The gargling sound of the water bubbling through their throats has given us our word "to gargle". The British in 1879 offered a plan to change the Bedestan into an Anglican church, but the Muslim society refused this as provocatively close to their mosque. On the street corners just close to the Bedestan are a couple of simple kebab restaurants for those in need of food.

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