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The formation of the historical city texture of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, began during the Lusignan Period. St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Catherine Church, which have an important place in the formation of the texture, are two of the few works of art still surviving today. Being a period of destruction for the city, in general, The Venetian Period provided the city walls to Nicosia which still surround the historical texture. The Ottoman Period brought a change to the historical city texture and Islamic culture and Turkish Architectural construction style replaced the Christian cultures. A number of architectural works from this period, still existing within the walled city of Nicosia, provided a great contribution to the formation and development of the present day texture, as well as for its sustainability. The British Period is one which brought novelty to the city texture of Nicosia. With demolition of historical works and changes in the street and square dimensions, British Colonial Architecture displays the traces of the recent past. The administrative buildings constructed in place of the demolished Lusignan Palace, still serve at present. With the beginning of the Period of the Republic in 1960, Nicosia underwent a fast process of development as an important capital in the Middle East. The traditional visuality in the city texture left its place to contemporary constructions and formations. The inter-communal conflicts, which started in 1964 on the other hand, negatively affected the formation and development of the city texture, and there was a period of stagnation until the 70s. The new developments observed since the 70s and the insufficiency of precautions to protect historical texture, caused a deterioration the city texture. With the position of an open-air museum, Nicosia with its history of over twenty-five centuries has a very rich historical city texture with the legacies of various cultures which reigned over Cyprus and is sustainable in the present, and is therefore an important cultural and touristic center Keywords: Cyprus, Nicosia, Historical City Texture, Walled City, Sustainability.

Victoria Street is the most important arterial street of Arabahmet Neighborhood, an important part of the walled city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, which houses the historical city texture. A cultural mosaic embodied in its architectural heritage, the formation of the street texture dates back to the Byzantine period of Cyprus. Beginning in the Lusignan period with the Armenian Church still standing today, the historical street texture did not show any development during the Venetian period. The formation of texture of Victoria Street continued in the Ottoman period, and a symbol of the street and the city, ArabahmetPaşa Mosque and XIX. Century Traditional Turkish Houses have taken place in its texture. The historical street texture saw its most important formation and development process during the British period. Besides many buildings with shops on the ground floor and houses on the upper floors built during this period, concrete buildings of shops and houses, three-floor apartments built towards the end of this period contributed to the shaping of the street. The Catholic Church within the present day historical texture of the street was also built during the British period, and forms the border of the street at its south end. During the Republic of Cyprus period, which began in 1960, concrete shops and houses were built in place of buildings tumbling down, and the development of the street texture continued. However, because of the political strife between the communities in Cyprus, the demographical profile of the street changed and this historical texture was neglected. Later, some of the Traditional Turkish House style buildings were renovated withfunding from the United Nations and became functional.The aim of this study is to analyze the formation and development of Victoria Street, which is an important cultural heritage within the historical texture of the walled city of Nicosia, through various historical periods, and to establish the physical and social status and its important place in the city beginning with the first construction of the street texture to the present. Information was gathered from written and visual resources for the study using a qualitative research method. The street texture was examined with a field study and photographed.

Dervish Pasha Street is in the Arabahmet Quarter within the walled city of Nicosia, which has a rich historical texture of architectural works of various historical periods of Cyprus. It presents an important example of historical street texture of the neighborhood with its cultural heritage buildings. The creation of the historical texture of the street began with a two-floor house of Traditional Turkish House, built there during the Ottoman Period (1571-1878). The development of the street texture was completed to a great extent during the British Period (1878-1960) with the building of single and two-floor houses, first with the characteristics of Turkish Architecture, and later with the architectural influences of the period. During the Republic of Cyprus period and the years following that, during which intercommunal political problems and migrations occurred, no change or development was observed in the street texture; however, the demographic structure of the street changed. Works for the preservation of the historical texture of Dervish Pasha Street began in the period of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (1983-.) and initially the street was pedestrianized and the facades of the buildings were restored. Also, the TRNC Office of Antiquities and Museums carried out an inventory work and a list of buildings was prepared. Most of the historical houses of the Dervish Pasha Street texture are being used as dwellings, and three of those buildings are being used for cultural and artistic functions.

Historical urban textures are the whole of the open and closed public spaces with the buildings and transportation axis, shaped by the cultural heritages of cities. One of the most important elements in historical urban textures, bringing dwellers with nature, and giving life to the city, are landscape spaces. The capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, also has a very rich historical texture. Within this context, the aim of this study is to examine the landscape of the historical urban texture of Nicosia from the past to the present, within the whole of various cultural periods including the present day status. Therefore, the development of Nicosia through the historical process is given right after the introduction. After the introduction, landscape of walled city of Nicosia was examined through the historical periods: Lusignan Period, Venetian Period, Ottoman Period, British Period, Republic of Cyprus Period, and the present day period, TRNC Period.