“ A further requisite when choosing a site for the founding of a city (Nicosia) is this, that it must charm its inhabitants by its beauty. A spot where life is pleasant will not easily be abandoned nor will men commonly by ready to flock to unpleasant places, since the life of man cannot endure without enjoyment…However if a country is too beautiful, it will draw men to indulge in pleasures, and this is most harmful to a city”

St Tomas Aquinas, De Regno, Ad Regem Cypri.

The social construction of Nicosia as a city dates back to the Byzantine period, Nicosia had probably become the center of administration and the island’s capital in either the 9th or the 10th century, had acquired a castle and was the seat of the Byzantine governor of Cyprus.

It is important to also understand the daily life of the city in its history, so that we can understand this building better. People’soccupations, their social behaviours, opinions, religion and even the language they spoke in the cities history all relate to what this building may have been as the combination of all these, created a‘the culture’ that designated and reflectedthe city, its living quarters, occupations thus the buildings.

In the 13^th century, one of the most significant historical chapters was written for Nicosia. Guy de Lusignan purchased the island and subsequently they established the medieval Kingdom of Cyprus. What we see mostly today as historic building starts from this period onwards to the 16^th-18^th century Ottomans and also later to the 18^th 19^th centuries including the British mandate. However the old city is based on the Lusignan design and the 13^th century ideas.

The 13^th century is described as “ Conflict, cultural and religious domination, and the imposed foundation of an implanted Gothic feudal, part operate.” In the 13^th century Nicosia, one encounters polemical life of two cities; Pre-existing Greco-Byzantine and newly founded Franco-Gothic – developing, adjoined or even superimposed on one another, in an incompatible fashion. The fall of Acra in 1267 AD and the Crusador Kingdoms of Holy Land in 1291 AD resulted I major alterations in ethnic, cultural, architectural and urban makeup of the city.

The foundation’s of the Nicosia during the Byzantine, superimposed by Lusignan and later by Venetians and Ottomans can bee seen in many building/monuments. Buyuk Hammam is a good example of all these and it was not an individual case. So how do we go about finding information about the history of Eagle eye building? For this we studied the historic maps, and read narratives of the travellers, and used scholarly publications as valuable resources.

One of the most important feature of the building is its location. It is near the main entry route to the city from the north, what is today called the Kyrenia Gate. What is more fascinating is the Square of the Pisans ( from Pisa in Tuscany in Italy) of the 13^th and 14^th centuries (1330 AD) is almost maintained today as the Dr. Kucuk Meydani, Dr. Kucuk Square. Pisans were merchants and were given many privilages to live in Cyprus.

 Just north of Spitia Genovese, near the later Porta Del Provedditore of renaissance fortification (Kyrenia Gate), an open space was surviving in the 16^th century named Piazza dei Pisani. Could this be the core around which Pisan community of the city originally settled? Pisan community enjoyed many privilages in the cities of the island. Pisans Tuscan rivals, Florence, also had connections to Nicosia as early as 1300s.  Numerous citizens of the capital borrowed and lent large amounts to the Florentine banking houses of Peruzzi ad Mozzi between the years 1299 and 1301. Florentine Bankers and traders were verysuccessful in their commercial goals. The story of an unnamed lady “the daughter of Babylon” , includes her elaborate entertainment, both in Paphos, and at the royal court in Nicosia.

As a summary, we understand from the evidences that the area was a Genoese and possibly Pisan and Florentin area. Given privilages of commerce, a bath complex and housing and commercial areas, the valuable goods, money lending or borrowing required a commercial building or and a house to live in with high walls and protected windows. It will not be wrong to suggest that the building today with possibly Byzantine roots but most definitely dating to the Lusignan period had Genovese or Pisan residents. No doubt the Venetian and Ottoman developments were added to this building as the history dictates. The square nearby, named after the Pisans and now Dr. Kucuk is a strong evidence of  strng social structure that stayed intact until today, for almost over 700 years. It is in this atmosphere that we offer our guests an opportunity to visit this unique historic city. To interpret the history of one building as this, one needs to understand and learn the history of the whole city – for this, exploration and visit is a must. As the hosts of Eagle Eye Boutique Hotel we are happy to provide our guests a place to stay within that historic atmosphere – to feel the morning and evening light, the call for prayers and the bells of the church to inciteones imagination, and making exploration of this magical city on foot possible.