Ayia Sophia quarter, Nicosia

Ayia Sophia
Agia Sophia, Ayasofya, Ἁγία Σοφία, Selimiye
Ayia Sophia quarter, looking north. Selimiye (Ayia Sophia) mosque in centre. Minaret of Yeni Jami (grey top) behind. Haydar Pasha mosque on right. Bedestan in foreground
Ayia Sophia Location in Cyprus
Coordinates: 35°10′39″N 33°21′58″E / 35.17750°N 33.36611°E / 35.17750; 33.36611
Country	Cyprus
District	Nicosia District
Municipality	Nicosia
Population  (2011)
• Total	878
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Ayia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya; Ottoman Turkish: آیا صوفیا; Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, romanized: Ayía Sophía; is a Neighbourhood, Quarter or Mahalle of Nicosia, Cyprus^[1][2] and the former name of the mosque situated therein. On 13 August, 1954 the name of the mosque was changed to Selimiye, after the conqueror of Cyprus, Sultan Selim II, a decision taken by the mufti, Mehmet Dana Efendi.^[3][4] The name of the quarter ^[5] and the surrounding street names were not changed by the secular authorities,^[6] at least initially. Ayia Sophia (various spellings) is still used by the Department of Lands and Surveys, and by the Census.

Ayia Sophia Quarter is located at the exact centre of Nicosia within the walls. A copper plaque in Kuyumcular Sokak (Goldsmiths Street), near Selimiye mosque, indicates that location as exactly 1⁄2 mile (0.80 kilometres) to each of the 11 bastions around Nicosia's walls . Determined by G. Hykle in 1987.^[3]

The quarter straddles the Green Line in Nicosia, thus the Cyprus Statistical Service indicates that the quarter is "partially occupied",^[1] the non-occupied part being a strip alongside Hermes Street and the south-east corner.^[7][8]

Ayia Sophia quarter is bordered on the north by the quarter of Abdi Chavush, to the northeast by Yeni Jami, to the east by Haydar Pasha, to the southeast by Agios Kassianos (Kafesli) and Chrysaliniotissa, to the south by Taht-el-kale, Omeriye and Phaneromeni, and to the west by Iplik Bazar–Korkut Effendi.

Population according to the Census taken in each year, where Ayia Sophia is separately reported. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]}

Note: 1832 census only included males. The figure for males in 1881 is included for comparison. Census data indicates that the population level was stable at that time.^[18]

1960 census report does not included figures for each Quarter.

The 2021 Census reports a zero residential population ^[19] for the south-east corner.

Ayia Sophia is one of the 24 historic quarters within the walls of Nicosia.^[2] During the Ottoman period it was counted as one of the moslem quarters of Nicosia. ^[20][21] The 1831 census reported the population was 100% moslem.^[9] Ottoman census data indicates that the highest ranking Ottoman administrative officials for Cyprus resided in Ayia Sophia quarter during the 19th century.^[18] Later, the moslem or Turkish Cypriot character of the neighbourhood waned and by 1946, Ayia Sophia had a population of 632 Greek Cypriots, 1239 Turkish Cypriots, and 65 others, still 64% Turkish Cypriot.^[2]

Until 1567 the River Pediaios flowed through the centre of Nicosia along the present locations of Lipertis and Hermes Streets, which form the southern boundary of Ayia Sophia quarter. In that year the Venetians diverted it outside the city, around the moat of the new walls they started constructing that year.^[22] The old river bed was later used for refuse disposal, so that it and the adjacent area became a health hazard. For this reason, the British enclosed the river bed in 1882 and a new street was built along the top, named Hermes Street. This along with Ledra Street became the foremost shopping and commercial street in the city. ^{[23] [24]} Hermes Street had a cosmopolitan character, drawing together the various communities in the city. But, starting in the 1950s it fell victim to the inter-communal conflicts and in December 1963 the Green Line was drawn along Hermes Street.

In the centre of the quarter, the Selimiye Mosque, Nicosia is the largest surviving building from antiquity in Cyprus and the most important survival from the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus.^[20] Just to the south of the great mosque stands the Bedestan, which means in Turkish an exchange or market, the use to which it was put in the Ottoman period. During Venetian rule it was the Orthodox metropolis.^[20]

To the west is Büyük Han, meaning Great Inn in Turkish, which was the largest inn in Cyprus during Ottoman rule.

To the south is Hermes Street, formerly one of the main shopping streets but now in the U.N. buffer zone, except for the south-east corner of the quarter. The southern boundary of the quarter runs along the centre of Hermes Street, except towards the west where it moves southward into Lipertis Street and Kykkos Avenue.