The 'Imprisoned Graves' at Nicosia Central Prison
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A pilgrimage destination of sorts – the small plot in which 13 EOKA fighters (see Cyprus history) are buried within the walls of Nicosia Central Prison. Nine of these were executed by the British on a nearby gallows in 1956/57. They were buried in secret in order to avoid stoking protests and rallies by Greek Cypriots. Now the site is an almost “holy” EOKA shrine. You can also see the associated prison cells and the gallows on which those fighters were executed.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: Alongside purpose-built concentration camps (see Kokkinotrimithia and Polemi) captured EOKA fighters (see Cyprus history) were also incarcerated by the British colonial masters in the large Nicosia Central Prison during EOKA’s 1955-1959 “struggle” (see Museum of the National Struggle). Moreover, this prison also had an execution chamber.
This came into use on four occasions to execute EOKA fighters sentenced to death. Two were hanged together on 10 May 1956, three on 9 August, another three on 21 September, and on 14 March 1957 Evagoras Pallikarides was hanged on his own. The latter is particularly regarded as a “hero-martyr” by EOKA. His birth house in a village near Paphos has been turned into another EOKA shrine (see below). In addition there are four more EOKA fighters buried here, who had either fallen in battle or, in one case, died in a military hospital from wounds sustained in battle. They were all between 19 and 24 years old.
To save space, four of the graves were dug for the bodies of two each of these dead EOKA fighters to be buried together.
The reason for the secret burials within the prison compound was that the British didn’t want proper public funerals to trigger mass protests and rallies by Greek Cypriots. Not even any relatives were allowed to be present at the prison burials.
It wasn’t until after the end of the EOKA struggle and with Cyprus becoming an independent state that these “Imprisoned Graves”, as they soon became known, were made publicly accessible and developed into the key EOKA memorial site this is now.
What hese men were sentenced to death for isn’t entirely clear. The leaflets about the site that you can pick up here, or at the Museum of the National Struggle, go on in hero-worshipping hyperbole that “their only crime was their love of freedom”. One passage, however, also notes that they were arrested for carrying weapons and ammunition and that there was an “emergency law” put in place by the British that made the possession of firearms punishable by death. I have not been able to sufficiently verify that. It seems a bit unlikely to me, given that thousands of EOKA members were arrested by the British in those years and I find it hard to believe that only those few sentenced to death had been carrying firearms … But never mind. The execution of the final victim, Evagoras Pallikarides, who was only 19 years old (back then you weren’t yet an ‘adult’ until the age of 21), caused particular controversy and remains a black spot on Britain’s colonial history.
There were actually 30 further EOKA fighters who had also been sentenced to death, but after Pallikarides’s execution in March 1957 the death sentences of the others still on death row were commuted to life imprisonment. After the end of the armed struggle in 1959 and with Cyprus on the path to independence these inmates were also released, together with those from the concentration camps.
What there is to see: First you have to report to the security gate and are asked to leave any smartphones in the little lockers provided. I had assumed that this was to prevent people from taking photos (hence I hadn’t even brought my big dSLR camera along). But then they didn’t mind my wife’s compact camera, or maybe they didn’t recognize it for what it was? Meanwhile, however, I’ve read that the phone ban is because the “Imprisoned Graves” are located within the grounds of a working prison. So it’s not because of photography being forbidden, as I had read elsewhere before my visit. It was also mentioned in the same source that you could only enter the site with a guide. That was not the case when I was there. We were just free to walk in on our own.
The “Imprisoned Graves” are reached through a small doorway in the old prison’s outer wall and then another immediately to the right. They are in a small rectangular courtyard with high walls around it. Note that some of the graves have two crosses on them – as indeed these graves contain two bodies each (see above). The crosses have the names and death dates and age of the dead written in Greek letters on them plus a little portrait photo. At the far wall is a slogan in large blue letters in Greek, which the brochure for the site says translates as “A brave man’s death is not death” (huh?!?).
Stepping back out into the larger courtyard you can head north-west to get to the entrance to the prison wing, “ward 7”, with the cells in which those awaiting trial, verdict and subsequent execution were held. This too is these days part of the memorial complex. You can peek into the ultra-sparsely “furnished” cells. And a few bilingual (Greek and English) information panels convey the basic history of the place. At the far end are panels with black-and-white drawings that are about e.g. prison life in general, hunger strikes and popular support for the prisoners amongst the Greek Cypriot population.
Back outside head south, past the small block in which those sentenced to death were held just before the executions (ward 8) to get to the execution chamber itself. The gallows inside consists of a wooden beam across the entire width of the chamber with three hooks on the underside. One noose with a rope slung around the beam is in situ, and according to the Museum of the National Struggle this is one of the original nooses actually used in the executions. Underneath the gallows is an open wooden hatch revealing the pit below – into which those executed would have hung. To the side is a metal lever, which I assume would have been the one opening the hatch and thus sending the executees down to hang to their deaths. On the walls are larger portrait photos of those executed here.
That is it, basically. Not all that much to see and very little to learn, but a worthy pilgrimage destination all the same.
Near the entrance to the “Imprisoned Graves” on the other side of the last stretch of Norman Street is a small library and shop, where you can pick up a few leaflets in English. The other publications on offer are almost exclusively in Greek, except one 84-page booklet called “A Brief History of the Liberation Struggle of EOKA (1955-1959)” published by EOKA in 2001. I bought a copy and started reading it, but after a while I couldn’t handle the “heroic” style of language and just skimmed through. That’s a problem with a lot of EOKA’s output in English (see also the Museum of the National Struggle). Maybe it works better in the original Greek. But in English I find that style very tedious.
Location: ca. 1.2 miles (2 km) west of the Old Town of Nicosia, and just south of the Green Line.
Google Maps locators:
the graves: [35.1804, 33.3437]
the cells: [35.18056, 33.34356]
the execution chamber: [35.1804, 33.3434]
security gate: [35.1789, 33.3445]
Access and costs: somewhat restricted, but free
Details: It’s about a half hour walk (or, if you have a car, a ca. eight-minute drive). From the Paphos Gate on the western edge of the Old Town of Nicosia (south) proceed westwards along (or through) Nicosia Municipal Park, take the Kinyra road bridge across the river and immediately turn off right on to Iroon Street. Then take the second right and keep going until you come to a fork in the road by a wide-open dusty field. Keep left here and proceed along Norman Street. You are now already alongside the prison complex’s perimeter – this is still a working prison, so no photography!
Eventually you come to a mini roundabout and this is where the security gate to the prison is located. Here you have to report to the staff on duty and leave any smartphones in one of the lockers provided. I was not asked for ID, but it wouldn’t hurt having your passport on you in case they are stricter on other occasions.
From the security gate head north on Norman Street, then by the main prison entrance turn right. After just under 300 feet (90m) you come to the entrance on your right. Once inside, the graves are in a small courtyard to the right. The cells are in a long building to the north. The execution chamber is in the south-western-most corner of this compound.
Opening times: Monday to Friday 8 or 9 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m. (again, different sources vary a little on this, so best make sure to get there in the late morning before lunchtime).
Admission is free.
Time required: not so long, perhaps 15-20 minutes.
Combinations with other dark destinations: the most natural combination is that with the Museum of the National Struggle in the Old Town of Nicosia (south), which is also where you can find another one of the original three nooses used in the executions as well as a replica of the gallows.
Outside the capital city there are more EOKA-related memorial sites, in particular at the former concentration camps of Kokkinotrimithia and Polemi.
Not covered here (as I haven’t visited it myself) is a site closely related to the “Imprisoned Graves”, namely the birth house of one of the executed EOKA fighters, Evagorias Pallikarides (who apparently was also a poet). This has been turned into a veritable house museum and EOKA memorial that opened in 2001. It’s in the village of Tsada ca. 8 miles (13 km) north of Paphos [34.8396, 32.4752].
Combinations with non-dark destinations: see under Nicosia
