Ledra

Ledra
Λήδρα
	Ancient city-Kingdoms of Cyprus
	Shown within Cyprus
Location	Cyprus
Region	Nicosia District
Coordinates	35°09′45″N 33°21′45″E / 35.16250°N 33.36250°E

Ledra (Greek: Λήδρα), also spelt Ledrae,^[1] was an ancient city-kingdom located in the centre of Cyprus where the capital city of Nicosia is today.

Ledra was established in 1050 BC. It became a city-kingdom by the seventh century BC.^[2] At times, it had been subject to Assyrian rule.^[3] Ledra was one of ten Cypriot kingdoms listed on the prism (many-sided tablet) of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BC). The only known king of Ledra is Onasagoras, mentioned in this tablet for paying tribute to Esarhaddon.^[4]

By Hellenistic times (330 BC) it had dwindled to a small village. An account suggested that it lost its city-kingdom status because it consolidated with other such kingdoms to form stronger territorial units.^[5] In 280 BC, Ledra became Leukotheon while the Byzantines started referring to it as Lefkon or "poplar grove".^[6] During the fourth century AD, it became a bishopric and was renamed Lefkosia.^[2] It eventually became the capital of Nicosia under this name during the 10th century.^[2]

Ledra Street in Nicosia is named after Ledra.^[7]

References

^ Brown, Truesdell (June 1974). "Reviews of Books (Alexander the Great)". The American Historical Review. 79 (3): 762–763. doi:10.2307/1867909. JSTOR 1867909.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mirbagheri, Farid (2010). Historical Dictionary of Cyprus. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. pp. 119. ISBN 9780810855267.
^ World and its Peoples: Greece and the Eastern Balkans. Marshall Cavendish, 2010.
^ Michaelides, Demetrios; Pilides, Despina (2012). "Nicosia from the Beginnings to the Roman Ledroi". In Michaelides, D. (ed.). Historic Nicosia. Nicosia: Rimal Publications. pp. 4–8.
^ Papantoniou, Giorgos (2012). Religion and Social Transformations in Cyprus: From the Cypriot Basileis to the Hellenistic Strategos. Leiden: BRILL. p. 111. ISBN 9789004224353.
^ Sternberg, C. (2006). North Cyprus Pocket Guide. Rüstem Bookshop. p. 29. ISBN 9789944968034.
^ "FACTBOX - Five facts on Cyprus's Ledra Street crossing". Reuters. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved 2019-03-19.