The St. Sophia Cathedral, built in a Gothic style by the Lusignans in the 14th century, was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman period and its name was changed to Selimiye Mosque. The St. Sophia Cathedral gained a lot of fame because it was the cathedral where the Lusignan Kings and nobles were buried. However, it was badly damaged by the Genoese raids in 1373 and by two major earthquakes between 1491-1547. On September 9, 1570, when the Ottomans captured the city of Nicosia, the cathedral, which was unusable, was repaired to be used as a mosque and a mihrab, pulpit and pulpit were added during the repair.
Lala Mustafa Pasha performed the first Friday prayer after the conquest of Nicosia in the Selimiye Mosque on September 15, 1570.
The two 49-meter-tall minarets of the Selimiye Mosque were built by Sultan II. It was added to the mosque by the order of Sultan Selim on May 1, 1572. During the Ottoman period, it served the public as the largest mosque not only in the city of Nicosia but also in the Cyprus Peninsula. In addition to all these, this mosque was known as the Hagia Sophia Mosque during the Ottoman Period, but was changed to "Selimiye Mosque" by the order of the Mufti of Cyprus due to its capture during the reign of Sultan Selim II.
There are 2 mihrabs in the Selimiye Mosque, one large and one small. Decorated marbles from the Middle Ages were used in the construction of the mihrab. There is a two-story muezzin gallery made of wood in front of the mihrab and a very beautiful preacher's pulpit just to the west. The Nicholas Chapel from the Lusignan Period is located to the northeast of the main area. At the eastern end of the main room, inside the apse located here, there are four columns made of granite and marble, believed to have been brought from the city of Salamis, carrying the superstructure. Above the door called Aziziye, there is a sun motif opening to the sun and above this motif is the inscription "Lafzai Celal" (Name of God) written by Zihni Efendi, the father of Naif Efendi, the last calligrapher of Cyprus.