The Faneromeni School has become one of the most critical tests of whether the state can deliver a project meant to shape the future of Nicosia’s walled city. Debate over the 2022 agreement considered by the Ministry of Finance as disadvantageous to the state, has left a landmark building in the city centre to fall into disrepair.
Mayor Charalambos Proutzos recently intervened publicly to highlight the benefits of the project and warn of the strategic loss if the building remains closed. “Nicosia cannot afford to lose such a vital hub at its centre,” he said.
Archbishop signals possible shift
Archbishop Georgios has taken a firmer stance. Speaking to Politis, he said that if the Ministry of Finance continues to block the agreement, the Archbishopric may incorporate the school as a religious institution under the Ministry of Education. This move would effectively cancel plans to develop Faneromeni as a university faculty, dealing a blow both to the city’s regeneration vision and to the State’s credibility.
Former Finance Minister Konstantinos Petrides and former Nicosia Mayor - now President of the Nicosia Development Organisation - Konstantinos Yiorkadjis, the architects of the 2022 agreement, stress the project’s strategic importance. Petrides warns, “If Faneromeni is lost, Nicosia loses the most realistic opportunity it has ever had for organic regeneration.” Yiorkadjis adds: “Without a university faculty, the plan for the old city is so weakened that it may never be fully realised.” ETEK President Konstantinos Konstantis emphasises, “Old Nicosia cannot endure further stagnation; Faneromeni must become a living hub of education and life.”
Core of a wider vision
Petrides stresses that Faneromeni is not an isolated project. “It is the heart of a vision for regenerating Nicosia’s historic centre,” he says. He notes that decades of mismanaged development, declining commerce, and traffic issues have driven residents and businesses out, creating an environment that will not recover unaided.
The plan for the walled city included school upgrades, student housing with affordable rents, incentives for small businesses, and - crucially - the operation of Faneromeni as a university faculty. Petrides sees this as the essential catalyst for the strategy’s success.
Lessons from Genoa
“Universities are the lifeblood of urban regeneration,” Petrides says. Drawing on international examples from Newport to Durham and Montpellier, he highlights Genoa as particularly instructive. There, the relocation of an architecture school into the historic Stradone Sant’Agostino led to improved safety, infrastructure, residency, tourism, and business activity.
“If Faneromeni does not proceed, Nicosia misses the most realistic chance for organic regeneration in decades,” he warns. “It loses the chance to turn a historic monument into a living part of the city and signals that Cyprus cannot complete strategies tied to its identity and development.”
The missing piece of the puzzle
Yiorkadjis outlines the original vision: following the Turkish invasion and division of the city, Old Nicosia needed a multi-layered regeneration plan to reverse decline. This included higher education faculties, research centres, student housing, and commercial revitalisation, with Faneromeni’s School of Architecture as the keystone. “Everything is advancing except one thing: the operation of the School of Architecture. Without it, the whole strategy is weaker and less effective,” he says.
Unfair and dangerous
Yiorkadjis adds that debates over blame are unhelpful. “What matters is approving funding for the school’s restoration. Cancelling the agreement is unfair and dangerous, especially given the recognised benefits of university faculties for an area,” he warns.
He also stresses the broader consequences: private investors acted on State assurances, and property transactions were made on the expectation that Faneromeni would operate as planned. “If the State changes its stance, its credibility is at risk,” Yiorkadjis concludes.