Lapidary Museum, Nicosia

The Stone Works Museum is a history museum located north of Nicosia. It is situated in Haydarpaşa Neighborhood. The museum exhibits historic stone works (coats of arms, marble works, sarcophagi and columns).

The stone house in which the museum is located was built in the 15th century and is of Venetian style, and later additions also give it Gothic features. At the time it was built, the building was in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral. Rectangular windows are on the first floor of the building and the building has balconies supported by carved brackets. The stone‑carved window opposite the entrance door was brought from the Lusignan Palace, which was demolished in 1904 during the British rule of the island. After the renovations, the building has been used as a museum since 23 June 2003. Among the works in the museum are a sarcophagus belonging to the Dampierre dynasty, a tombstone of Antakya native Adem who served as Cyprus Marshal in the 13th century, and a marble Saint Mark the Lion.

Architecture

This structure, which is a house, has a longitudinal rectangular plan. Made of cut stone and two‑storey, this house was built in the Venetian period. In the study by Camille Enlart it is understood that the building’s four walls are still standing and sound. The lower and upper floors of the structure form a single space, and to the north of the spaces there is a large garden; how the building was originally planned is unknown. The entrance door is a pointed arch and is located on the south façade of the building. Today the ground‑floor windows, which are filled in and no longer functional, are rectangular, while the upper floor windows are larger and more ornate. This Venetian house, covered with a broken roof, is reached on the upper floor by a stone staircase located in the garden.