Presidential Palace, Nicosia
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The Presidential Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Republic of Cyprus. It is located close to the centre of the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, and is surrounded by a thick pine woodland.
Before Cypriot Independence in 1960, the Palace was the House of the British Colonial Administration. Perhaps the finest examples of architecture from the British period is the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus. Built in the 1930s, the Palace replaced an earlier wooden building burnt during a Greek Cypriot demonstration. It was partially destroyed during the Greek Junta and EOKA-B fomented military coup of 15 July 1974, but has since been painstakingly restored. Among the Palace's most prominent features are four gargoyles with human heads depicting the British General Foreman in charge of construction, the head mason, head carpenter and an unknown labourer. Along with the British coat-of-arms, the gargoyles survived the destruction of the 1974 coup.