Five buildings have been earmarked for the Kapodistrian university’s facilities in Nicosia, which the university hopes will be ready by October, when it will be opening its doors to students of its medical and nursing faculty.

These are the old Tsaousis building in the old town near Phaneromeni church, Stoa Tarsis at the end of Ledra street, ‘Irini’ hall near the Ledra street crossing point, Achillios municipal library and art centre in Phaneromeni square.

The agreement on the buildings was made on Friday and details were discussed with the archbishopric and the Nicosia municipality.

It is estimated that Stoa Tarsis alone will cost around €8 million to renovate, an amount to be covered by the archbishopric with €5m and the municipality by €3m, as it is part of the heritage protected by the archbishopric, Nicosia municipality and the Greek embassy.

The building extends into the buffer zone and its use has been regulated through the United Nations.
Further works will be carried out in other buildings.

The Nicosia municipality dormitories are also expected to be ready by October and will be able to accommodate up to 70 students.

The university estimates that it will start off with 100 students, some of whom will be housed in private student residences.

Kapodistrian university expects students from Greece to study in Cyprus too.

According to Philenews, it seems the agreement between the archbishopric and the University of Cyprus to utilise the Phaneromeni school building will not be cancelled and for the time being the building will remain with the university.

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, officially founded on April 14, 1837, is the first university not only of Greece but both the Balkan peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean region.
The idea of establishing a university in Greece emerged alongside the Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution.

In February, the rector of the Kapodistrian university Gerasimos Siassos said plans for Cyprus included courses in nursing, medicine, psychology, education, philosophy and economics.

He also announced the introduction of foreign-language programmes in philosophy and the history of literature, with the goal of expanding to other disciplines once the branch becomes operational.