Located in the Turkish part of Cyprus, the Selimiye Mosque used to be a Christian temple, the Cathedral of St Sophia, which is not at all uncommon on this island. Its construction began in 1209, but because of the grandiose plans of the architects, who wanted to make it similar to the Gothic medieval cathedrals of France, the completion of construction and consecration of the temple took place only in 1326. As it is supposed to be, both inside and outside this construction had lavish decoration: it was decorated with statues, paintings, elegant wall paintings, frescoes and bas-reliefs. But as a result of the fact that this territory was invaded by different peoples more than once, the appearance of the building and its interior decoration changed significantly, because each of the invaders made some changes in it. The building also survived several serious earthquakes, after which it had to be seriously repaired.
When the Ottomans came to power in 1570, almost all sculptures and works of art were taken out of the cathedral, and the tombstones were covered with carpets. Only the statue of St Sophia remained, which was moved to the street outside the temple. In addition, two tall minarets were completed on the western side of the temple.
Later, in 1954, the temple received a new name - Selimiye. The mosque was named so in honour of the Turkish Sultan Selim II, who was one of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire, and participated in the conquest of the island.
Selimiye Mosque is one of the main Muslim temples in Nicosia. Nowadays, the structure looks much more modest than it used to, but still impresses visitors with its grandiosity and beauty.
