"Bedestan"

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Betestan, for some St. Nicholas, it is one of the most important historic buildings in Nicosia.

History
It is located on the south side of Temenus Selmiye and just on the other side of the road. Betestan is a former Orthodox temple dedicated to Our Lady Driver, built in the 12th century. The church was considered dedicated to St. Nicholas, due to the fact of the discovery within the church of a relief performance of St. It was then renovated, on the occasion of the occupation of the island by the Franks.

Origin of the name
During the Venetian period, the temple was used as a metropolitan for the Orthodox. With the occupation of Cyprus by the Ottomans in 1570, it was converted into "Bentestan". This name is derived from the Turkish word "betastan", meaning a covered market.

It is called this because during the Turkish occupation it was once used as a market for the sale of weavers and once as a wheat warehouse.

English
With the occupation of Cyprus by the English in 1878, they in turn claimed the church. Eventually, however, the idea was abandoned for the following reasons:
the building was the property of Evkaf, an organization that owns and manages the church property of the Muslims of Cyprus, and Islamic law prohibited the sale
If it were rented, the costs for repairs would be too large and the contract could be cancelled at any time
According to Islamic law, no place of worship of any other religion is allowed within 100 cubits of the mosque.

Today, Betestan has been declared a medieval archaeological monument.

Architecture
The church of Agios Nikolaos has a peculiar architecture. It combines francobyzantine rhythm, i.e. it is a mixture of Frankish (Gothic) and Byzantine architectural type, with a characteristic feature the combination of the sharp arc with a Byzantine dome.

It is three-aisled and separated from stone-built arches. External characteristics of St. Nicholas is the tall octagonal dome with the colorful stained glass that decorates its windows. Also, another external feature is the 3 Gothic doors with reliefs in their northern part. Finally, inside there are the walls, which are deserted, because many images, relics and valuable objects were transferred to other churches to protect themselves from the possible Turkish invasion. However, traces of Byzantine frescoes are distinguished.

References
An interesting photograph of the temple, before the restoration work done, is on the website: https://web.archive.org/web/20100131063641http://www.panoramio.com/photo/447894

Sources

Thomson John, Through Cyprus with the camera, in the earumn of 1878. London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1879.
Athena Tarsouli, CYPRUS, Athens: ALFA Publications, 1955.
Great Cyprus Encyclopedia. Head