In occupied Cyprus, across the demilitarised zone in Nicosia, the French gothic cathedral of St Sophia is now Selimiye mosque. The building was at the heart of Cypriot crusader history, with many stories in its past. Today, tourists wonder at something that looks like European architecture is a mosque.

This article explains the cathedral history, its significance and the current mosque.

Construction and Founding

Cyprus was under the control of the Lusignan dynasty during the crusades. Being Frankish, and Catholic, the family wanted to show their allegiance to Rome. It was logical to have Cyprus be a bishopric in its own right, which meant a cathedral¹. They went for the French Gothic² style which was en vogue at the time, and the resemblance to Notre-Dame is remarkable. This became the largest Roman church built in the region between the rise of Islam and the Ottoman period¹.

In 1209, the archbishop of Cyprus started project managing this^{1 2 3 4} when King Henry I was on the throne¹. The original building was a repurposed Byzantine (i.e. Greek Orthodox) cathedral⁴. Progress must have been slow because in 1217 the next archbishop took over. Archbishop de Montaigu accelerated the work and it was more or less complete by 1228³. The remaining works stretched till 1250 when the side aisles and part of the central nave were ready^{1 4}.

Despite all this, it took more than 100 years before the bishop consecrated the church in 1326^{1 3 5}, more than a century after they broke ground. The name comes from the Greek Ayia Sofia which means holy wisdom^{1 5}.

Apart from being the main seat of the Roman Church on the island, what was the building used for?

Historical Events

The Lusignan’s interest in the project means it’s natural they chose it for their coronations.  Apart from the beauty and size of the building, the coronation there links royalty with the divine right to rule.

If I’m being precise about coronations, I should note that the first coronations were for Kings of Cyprus^{1 2 3}. After the Genoese conquered Famagusta, east of Nicosia, the coronations changed because it was the location for the coronations of the Kings of Jerusalem, and the Kings of Armenia¹. This makes it sound multi-functional, but in reality some held more than one of these roles at the same time.

Two other major events took place in the cathedral:

• The trials of the Knights Templar in 1310¹.
• The Pope’s representative tried to convert Greek Orthodox bishops causing a massive riot.

It’s natural to have the cathedral at the centre of religious and royal life, so what did it look like?

Artistic and Architectural Features

I’ve already mentioned the French Gothic architectural features and the pictures here do it justice. The characteristic high arches and intricate stonework is marvellous. One unique difference between what you see and any French cathedral is the lack of a gabled roof³. In Nicosia they never finished the roof so the building has a simple flat roof. The original church had large stained glass windows⁴, but the Ottomans destroyed these.

Of historical note is the use of ancient ruins. They placed four columns from Salamis out front. Thisis an interesting re-use of ancient art, which wasn’t as common or obvious as it is now.

Inside the massive church – measuring 66 x 21 m⁴ – the main feature would be the tombstones of royalty interred there. The Ottomans defaced or destroyed these⁴, and destroyed the bodies of the royals too⁴. Some of the tombstones may still survive but the carpeted mosque hides all that.

The church must have been as magnificent as French cathedrals. How did the building evolve, if it did at all?

Redesigns and Alterations

The main cause of damage to the building was natural, but this was a war-torn region at the time.

The paint was still fresh in the cathedral when the first earthquakes hit it in 1267¹ and 1303^{1 4}. This delayed the initial construction, but also led to reconstructions and redesigns¹. Pope Clement IV ordered renovations through a papal bull⁴, but couldn’t fund them himself. The church funded these restorations through the sale of indulgences. In 1373, the Genoese launched one of their first attacks on Nicosia, damaging it further. They paid for the damage they caused.

In 1426, a Mameluke raid on Cyprus from Egypt focused on cathedral too. The building was almost restored before another disaster struck. In 1491, another earthquake hit the island⁶. The damage was horrific; internal chapels crumbled, and the tomb of Hugh III broke open revealing the clothing and gold buried with him⁶.

Cyprus was under Venetian rule by then. The Venetian senate ordered a new tax to fund these repairs. This became an annual tax of 250 ducats (about USD 37 000 in today’s money) on the archbishopric⁶. It sounds obvious – Cyprus should pay for damages to a Cypriot building – but with this tax, Venice kept the Cypriot archbishopric under its thumb. (The Venetians didn’t mention they’d raided Henry III’s tomb and took the gold inside⁶ ). By 1507, visitors to the island marvelled at the beauty of the building⁶.

In 1570, the Ottomans managed to conquer the island after a 50-day siege of the city¹. The cathedral proved useful as a refuge during the siege^{1 6}, but then was bombed and attacked when the invaders broke through the walls. They converted the cathedral to a mosque^{1 3 5 6}. Repurposing existing religious buildings for Islamic use was not a new tactic. They added minarets, a mihrab and removed the obvious Christian symbols, as well as disposing of all human remains⁶. The Ottomans named the building Hagia Sophia Mosque¹.

On 15 September, Commander Lala Mustafa Pasha attended the first Friday prayer here^{1 6}.

They named the mosque in Famagusta after him, itself also an example of French Gothic.

On 13 August 1954, the grand mufti of the mosque renamed it Selimiye Mosque. This honoured Sultan Selim II who reigned during the Ottoman invasion of Cyprus^{1 5 6}.

The building is still one of the most monumental in Nicosia’s old town¹. When in use as a mosque, it can house 2 500 people at a time¹. There are ongoing efforts to preserve it. Between 2022 and 2023 I saw the scaffolding around the building change as they work on preserving it for future generations. The Turkish Cypriot authorities are funding this reconstruction, but this is under international oversight because of its importance as an international cultural heritage site.

References

1. Visit North Cyprus. (n.d.). Selimiye Mosque. [online] Available at: https://www.visitncy.com/discover/selimiye-mosque/[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Karaderi, Ş. and Turkan, Z. (2024). First Greek Orthodox Temple in Sustainable Cultural Heritage of Nicosia’s Historical Urban Texture: Chrysaliniotissa Church and Its Architectural Characteristics. Sustainability, [online] 16(23), p.10178. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310178[↩][↩][↩]
3. dom.com.cy. (n.d.). Gothic architecture in Cyprus. [online] Available at: https://dom.com.cy/en/live/blog/cyprus-gothic-style/[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. As witnessed by author; The Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
5. Religiana. (2025). Selimiye Mosque, Nicosia. [online] Available at: https://religiana.com/selimiye-mosque-nicosia [Accessed 24 Feb. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Mosqpedia.org. (2025). Selimiye Mosque – Mosqpedia. [online] Available at: https://mosqpedia.org/masajid/selimiye-mosque-2/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2025][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.