Ledra ( el, Λήδρα), also spelt Ledrae was an ancient city-kingdom located in the centre of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

where the capital city of Nicosia is today. Ledra was established in 1050 BC. It became a city-kingdom by the seventh century BC. At times, it had been subject to

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n rule. Ledra was one of ten Cypriot kingdoms listed on the prism (many-sided tablet) of the

n king

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...

(680–669 BC). The only known king of Ledra is Onasagoras, mentioned in this tablet for paying tribute to Esarhaddon. By

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

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. In 280 BC, Ledra became Leukotheon while the Byzantines started referring to it as Lefkon or " poplar grove". During the fourth century AD, it became a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

and was renamed Lefkosia. It eventually became the capital of Nicosia under this name during the 10th century.

Ledra Street Ledra Street ( el, Οδός Λήδρας ''Odos Lidras''; tr, Ledra Caddesi) is a major shopping thoroughfare in central Nicosia, Cyprus, which links North Nicosia, the part of the city under the control of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, an ...

in Nicosia is named after Ledra.

References

Cities in ancient Cyprus Former populated places in Cyprus States and territories established in the 11th century BC {{Europe-hist-stub