Gymnasio Latsion, Cyprus
Our school, Latsia Gymnasium, is situated 7Km south of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. Latsia Gymnasium was founded in 1991. The current student population of the school is 423 students and they follow a broad curriculum that includes a variety of subjects and 61 teachers. Taking part in this project is a great opportunity for our students to interact and work alongside with people from other countries and have a glimpse of their culture, developing intercultural competence and understanding of individual differences, qualifications important for promoting the European identity. This specific project that revolves around historical monuments in different European countries of different eras will help our students to explore their common European historic paths, seek similarities as well as differences.
Our school has extensive experience in international projects due to participation in several international partnerships within and outside the European Union. The teachers participating in the project are: Eleni Poyatji (coordinator), Elina Charalambous, Elli Mavrikiou.
Gymnasio Latsion, Cyprus
Latsia, Nicosia
Latsia is 7 km away from Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. More than 75% of the inhabitants come from a refugee background. The refugee issue was raised when Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in 1974 and since then they have been illegally occupying the northern third of the island. In our times Nicosia remains the last divided city of Europe, sliced in two by the ‘Green Line’ disrupting its cohesion, its continuity. Nicosia is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capitals. It has been continuously inhabited for over 4,500 years and has been the capital of Cyprus since the 10th century.
The first walls surrounding Lefkosia (Nicosia) in the 14th century were built by the Franks and enclosed a much larger area than the 16th Venetian Walls that still surround the old town. When the Venetians occupied Cyprus, they decided to demolish the Frankish Walls.
Forming a circle, the walls built by the Venetians were fortified by eleven heart-shaped bastions and protected by an 80 metres wide moat. The moat around the walls now has many different uses, serving as sports fields, public gardens, an open-air sculpture exhibition, car parks etc.