2-368-178 - Vivienne Sharp/Heritage Images

Bayraktar Mosque, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2001. Cyprus was conquered by the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1570-1571. The Bayraktar Mosque was the first mosque to be built in Nicosia after the conquest. It was constucted on the Constanza Bastion where the the Ottomans first scaled the city walls, led by their standard bearer (bayraktar). The mosque was rebuilt in 1820 but suffered damage from bombs during the sectarian conflict on Cyprus in the mid 1960s after which it was closed. Restoration work began in 1990.