Bandabulya

The yard of St Sophia (Selimiye) and St Nicolas church (Bedesten) in Nicosia was used as the main trading place in the city during Venetian rule (1489-1570) in Cyprus. People entered the walled city to sell their products and textiles, using the area for their weekly local market.

Due to population growth and rising popularity, the market became a permanent fixture and people from all around Cyprus came to buyand sell sell goods at the Bandabulya market.

Also known as the Municipal Bazaar, it's the first indoor vegetable market, dating back to Lusignan times as an open market area with shops and stalls for trade, and rooms to accommodate traders. The bazaar, which was completely open when it was first built, was established in 1932, and quickly became the most crowded and significant market in the city. It’s an historical place where food, beverages, spices, vegetables and fruits unique to Cyprus are sold. It was also a public space where locals could gather and take their kids for ice cream on the weekends. In addition, there are cafes, restaurants, clubs and shops used as entertainment. Bandabulya covers an area of 4500 square meters, contains 77 shops and is one of the popular bazaars of the region.

​Etymological origin and tradition
Bandabuliya is a word of Greek origin. "Banda" means continuous and "buliya" means sale. It’s the name given to the municipal markets brought to local culture by the British. It means gathering place, meeting place, shopping place, socializing place among the people. In bandabuliyas, which serve every day except Sundays, traders pay rent to the municipality they’re affiliated with. In the past, producers preferred to sell their wares in bandabuliya because sales there were in cash, whereas credit was common for sales in village squares. Bandabuliyas are found in Famagusta, Güzelyurt, Kyrenia, Lefke, Nicosia and Iskele. Some are market places, while others are used for different purposes.

​History
Nicosia has been the capital of Cyprus for about 800 years. Austrian Archduke Ludwig Salvator, who visited Cyprus in 1872, writes in his book "Levkosia" that he found 23 bazaars performing different professions between the gates of Famagusta and Paphos, and describes the "Meat and Fish Bazaar" where all kinds of food are sold in the place of current Bandabuliya.

Esme Scot Stevenson, in her 1880 book "Our Home in Cyprus", describes the Nicosia bazaar as follows: "A little further, when we turned right, passing the coppersmiths and bell makers, which were ringing in the ears, we found ourselves in the vegetable market full of large melons, watermelons, pumpkins, strings of onions, figs and grapes. One street away, in the butchers' street, we found ourselves in the vegetable market. and other kinds of meat… Beyond a narrow street, there is the Women's Bazaar. The white-veiled women were sitting cross-legged next to the piles of local fabrics in front of them."

On the Kitchener map published in 1881, where the current Bandabuliya area is located, the name "Market Place" is mentioned and it's open. Again, on land registry maps of Nicosia Surlariçi (1912-1915), there is a record of "Municipial Market" in the same place. In a 1950 watercolor painting by British painter Arthur J. Legge (1859-1942), you can see greengrocers in the Nicosia bazaar selling in covered places, and the streets where the people walk are open.

Foundation of Bandabuliya
In 1929 the city council decided to demolish the old bazaar and build a new Bandabuliya in its place. It was planned that 12 of the 132 small shops to be built would be used as fish shops, 80 as vegetable shops, 40 as wholesale warehouses, fruit shops, butcher's and pig shops. The £20,000 required for the construction was borrowed from the Bank of Cyprus at 6% interest for 30 years and shopkeepers temporarily moved to Misirli Han. The inscription "Belediye Pazarı" ("ΔHMOTΙKH AΓOPA"), in Turkish and Greek, was hung on the entrance door to the northwest of the bazaar, which was completed in 1932.

​Extension and restoration work of Bandabuliya
When Bandabuliya couldn’t keep up with demand in 1940, an adjoining garden and property were purchased and the building was expanded and completed on 14 September 1940. In 2004, restoration turned the wholesale market into an entertainment centre, while the retailers area was retained. In the early 1970s new residential areas started to be built outside the city, and gradually the market started to be neglected by locals. Over the years, the shops closed down, the building became unsafe and finally closed in 2010. With the support of the United Nations Development Program, it was renovated and re-opened in June 2012 with 77 stalls for sellers, a café, bookshops and a small theatre for performances.